SEAT’s new Head of Design, Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, spoke to Autocar at the Frankfurt motor show last month about the Brand’s design direction and future product line-up.
“SEAT is a car that you buy because you like it. You have love at first sight,” said Mesonero-Romanos.
“Then you discover there are lots of other things as well as nice design – good quality, good price – but the main thing is for people to say ‘wow’.
“SEAT is covering a lot of the basics, but there are gaps missing,” he told Autocar. “We will fill the basic gaps and it will be done quite soon.
“We can’t do anything too extravagant or niche at the moment because we have some spaces to fill. But once we have a range that is more mature, solid and gives good revenues, we will start to make other cars that are a little bit more special.
“[SEAT is] dynamic and emotional. Of course we can give more accent to cars like Cupra: it is sporty but it is emotional, has good dynamics and it athletic. Look at the IB concepts: they’re not mainstream and all have strong personalities. We are ‘sporty dynamic’.”
Read the full interview in the 5 October edition of Autocar.
About SEAT’s new Head of Design
- Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos takes over from Luc Donckerwolke, who became Director of Design at SEAT in 2005 and has recently been appointed Head of Advanced Design at the Volkswagen Group
- Mesonero-Romanos joined the Volkswagen Group in 1995 and has been involved in the design of several SEAT models
- He joined the Volkswagen Group’s Design Centre Europe in 1997, and was in charge of exterior design for various SEAT, Volkswagen and Audi projects
- He moved to Renault in 2001, and became the manufacturer’s Head of Advanced Design in 2007
- He was appointed Design Director at Renault Samsung Motors in 2009, and re-joined SEAT in August this year