New SEAT Terra reaches Britain
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• A Spanish-built SEAT hightop car-derived van will go on sale in the UK from October this year.
Left-hand-drive versions of the front-wheel-drive SEAT Terra van, which is based on the SEAT Marbella saloon, have already been launched on the Continent, where they replace the old Marbella Trans van.
The first examples of SEAT'S new CDV arrived in Britain during the Christmas break, however. They are being evaluated by SEAT Concessionaires UK and will be photographed before being returned to Spain.
The Terra is based on a Fiat Panda floor pan, but with a purpose-built 2.45m3 box body similar to the Fiat Fiorino's. With a kerbweight of 740kg, and a gross weight of 1,230kg, the Terra offers a payload of around 400kg with a 75kg driver on board.
Although the Terra is currently offered in mainland Europe with a choice of either an 850cc or 930cc Fiat-derived petrol engine, with four or five-speed gearboxes, the final driveline specification for UK models has yet to be decided, but a five-speed gearbox is a likely choice for a right-hand-drive Terra.
There are no diesel Terra vans as yet.
Provisionally also named the Terra, right-hand-drive SEAT vans will be sold against similar continental-built boxbodied CDVs like the Renault Extra, Citroen C15 and the Fiat Fiorino, which is due to be replaced some time next year.
SEAT's Roger Raggett has confirmed that the Terra will arrive in the UK in the autumn, and says that although it has some disadvantages in load volume and payload, as well as in engine power, when compared to other vans: "You can be sure the price will be very competitive."
As Spain is now a member of the EEC, there will be no import quotas to restrict the number of vans SEAT could sell in the UK.
Spanish factories are already supplying a large number of right-hand-drive car-derived vans to the UK. The Citroen Visa van is built at Vigo, while the Fiesta van is built at Valencia.