A Volkswagen Golf means a new Seat Leon

And from the latest teaser picture what we can say for sure is… it has a strip of red lights across its back end. Seat catchily calls them “coast to coast” lights. So popular is this feature becoming that pretty soon you will be able to tell a car that’s beyond its sell-by date because it doesn’t have this style of taillights.

Such light bars are most commonly associated with electric cars but while the new Leon is sure to be electrified with a hybrid drivetrain, it is unlikely to be fully electric. That is the job of the Seat El Born, the Spanish brand’s take on the group’s electric-only MEB architecture that has already given us the VW ID3 battery-powered hatch.

It is likely the El Born, which has been shown only as a concept thus far, will contribute more to the new Leon’s styling than just those rear lights. Overall, however, the design expectation is likely to err on the evolutionary side, just as with the latest Golf. The Leon will still be new from its boots up, probably larger and, in Seat’s words, “bolder and sportier”.

Revolution will likely come on the inside where, again like Golf 8, screen-based digitisation goes into overdrive to offer all the latest connectivity features.

Seat is planning a full reveal of the new Leon on 28^th January ahead of a starring role on the Seat stand at the Geneva Motor Show in early March, where it will likely be joined by the production version of its electric cousin, the El Born.