The current Seat Leon has been around for some time
now, having made its debut in 2012. The facelift took its bow in late 2016, and
now it appears that a successor is well and truly underway.
Most of the new car is still camouflaged, though at
the front the forthcoming Leon’s headlamps are visibly different, particularly
with a different orientation for its inboard points. Detail changes remain
concealed here, though we can see that the front bumper retains the two-tier
grille and intake layout, with fog lamps at both corners.
The rear half of the daylight opening somewhat
appears to retain the current cars upswept lower edge as it meets the upper
edge closer to the roof, while the tail light assembly also seems to be split
between the body and the tailgate. It remains to be seen if all three body
styles – three-door and five-door hatch, plus wagon – will carry over to the
new model.
The Leon is likely to ride on the updated MQB
platform that is set to underpin the upcoming, eighth-generation Volkswagen
Golf, which should bring benefits such as a 50 kg weight saving as well as
support for 48-volt electrical architecture. Given that the Mk8 Golf was
sighted almost production-ready in January for a Q3 2019 debut, the new Leon
could see a launch closer to 2020
