Star cars 2010: Seat - Volvo

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by Autocar

4 mins read

31 December 2009

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Welcome to the fourth and final installment of autocar.co.uk's run down of the star cars for the year ahead.

Manufacturer by manufacturer we're listing all the star launches for the year ahead, plus all the crucial details.

Today, we're covering Seat to Volvo.

Click here to read Star cars 2010: Alfa - Ferrari

Click here to read Star cars 2010: Ford - Mazda

Star cars 2010: McLaren - Rolls-Royce

To find out more details and see hi-res pictures of a car, click on its name.

Seat Ecomotive – round-upA new 1.6D Ecomotive engine is coming next year to the Altea and Leon range. Now with stop-start, CO2 will drop below 100g/km, qualifying for free road tax

Seat Leon Cupra ROn sale JanuaryPrice £23,500With peak power of 261bhp channelled through the front wheels, acceleration is rapid: 0-62mph in 6.1sec. But the firm ride could be punishing on UK roads.

Seat Ibiza Sport TourerOn sale MarchPrice £11-£13,000Handsome new styling aft of the B-pillars boosts carrying capacity to 410 litres. Expect the new engines from the Polo to feature.

Seat AlhambraOn sale DecemberPrice £22-£28,000Featuring a new platform shared with the Volkswagen Sharan, the Alhambra is said to retain the current car’s relatively compact footprint with just a slight increase in overall dimensions. That should make it a relatively roomy MPV, albeit with usable everyday dimensions.

Skoda Superb EstateOn sale FebruaryPrice £17,715Skoda’s largest load-lugger aims to steal sales from Volvo, Ford and even Mercedes

Skoda Fabia vRSOn sale JulyPrice £16,000The hot Fabia will return next summer with more aggressive styling than its predecessor. Power comes from a petrol powerplant, a 178bhp 1.4-litre twincharger unit shared with the Seat Ibiza Cupra. Expect 0-60mph in 7.0sec and 140mph.

Suzuki – round-upPlans to bring the mid-size Kizashi saloon to the UK are currently on hold and a new Swift isn’t expected until 2011. So next year Suzuki will add a new 2.0-litre Fiat diesel to the SX4 and introduce stop-start.

Toyota Auris HybridOn sale FebruaryPrice £20,000The British-built Auris Hybrid is expected to account for 30 per cent of Auris sales in the UK. Featuring a Prius powerpack and a 97bhp 1.8 petrol engine, the Auris Hybrid is expected to offer 90g/km and a 1.25-mile range on electric power only, provided the speed is kept below 30mph.

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Vauxhall CorsaOn sale JanuaryPrice £11-£16,000A revised chassis and new engines make the 2010 Corsa more significant than the usual mild facelift. New springs, dampers and anti-roll bar bushes and myriad other tweaks promise to improve both handling and ride quality.

Vauxhall MerivaOn sale JunePrice £13-£18,000The key development is rear-hinging doors that swing wide open to ease access to the rear cabin - a real bonus for families.

Vauxhall Astra Sports TourerOn sale NovemberPrice +£800Taking its cue from the sporty Insignia estate, the Astra Sports Tourer will have sleek looks and sits on the same wheelbase as the hatchback, which should make the handling more agile than the previous Astra estate. However, those sharp looks may come at the expense of carrying capacity.

Vauxhall AstraThere’s a strong possibility Vauxhall will launch a warm Astra hatch next year - with a diesel engine

Vauxhall Insignia A new 190bhp twin-turbo 2.0-litre diesel is due to be fitted to the hatch in November; it’ll come with four-wheel drive

VW – round-upA hot Polo GTI will return to the VW line-up next summer. A sister car to the Seat Ibiza Cupra, the GTI will feature a 170bhp 1.4 ‘twincharger’ engine.

VW Scirocco RFocus RS beater is a bargain at £26k, although you may want to add a couple of key extras

VW Golf ROn sale JanuaryPrice £28,000With 266bhp from its 2.0-litre turbo engine, the R has 20bhp more than the V6-powered R32 model. A new hydraulic four-wheel drive system from the Audi S3 ensures excellent traction and 0-62mph in 5.7sec.The optional dual-clutch transmission is even quicker, shaving 0.2sec off the 0-62mph time. Despite the four-wheel drive, the new R is still 35kg lighter than the old R32.

VW TouranOn sale SeptemberPrice £16-£24,000VW’s chic seven-seater gets the Golf treatment next year with a vastly higher-quality dashboard and new common-rail diesel engines. Expect styling tweaks to feature a wider, lower grille to widen the Touran’s stance.

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VW TouaregOn sale OctoberPrice £34-£40,000An all-new VW off-roader is launched at Detroit next month ahead of an autumn launch in the UK. Based on a new platform co-developed with Porsche, the Touareg will feature VW’s first production hybrid powertrain. Using a 3.0-litre V6 from the Audi S4, the Touareg hybrid will count the Lexus RX450h as its main competition.

VW SharanOn sale OctoberPrice £22-£30,000The Sharan will be the first car built on VW’s new, flexible MQB platform. Sharing its underbody technology and seven-seat interior with the Seat Alhambra, the Sharan will have its own distinct design.

VW PassatOn sale DecemberPrice £18-£22,000All-new, the Mk7 Passat will be the second car off VW’s new MQB platform. The VW Sharan will be the first.

Volvo C30/C70 - facelift On sale JanuaryPrice £15-£25,000With the new S60 coming in summer, together with a swoopy new nose treatment, Volvo is bringing its stablemates up to date with revised styling, new lights and grille.

Volvo S60On sale JulyPrice £21-£30,000Volvo will take on the Audi A4 with a new S60 next summer. Based on the Ford EU-CD platform, which also underpins the C30/S40, the S60 is sized to be a head-on competitor for rival sports saloons, not something that previous Volvos in this segment have managed.

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