The
SEAT Alhambra is a large 7-seat MPV by the
Volkswagen GroupVolkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
, sold under the
SEATSEAT, S.A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded on May 9, 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria , a state-owned industrial holding company....
brand.
The Alhambra already spans two generations since 1996, and both of them are built at the
AutoEuropaAutoEuropa - Automóveis Lda. is a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in the city of Palmela, Portugal.-Foundation:After signature of a joint venture agreement between Volkswagen Group and Ford in July 1991, the 2million sqm plant was built in four years, including a surrounding industrial park...
plant in
PalmelaPalmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon.The municipal holiday is June 1....
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. It takes its name from the
AlhambraThe Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
of
GranadaGranada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, one of the most famous monuments in Spain.
Mk1 (Typ 7M, 1996-2010)
The first generation of the SEAT Alhambra was presented as a prototype at the 1995 Geneva Salon International de l'Auto, to be followed next year by the official premier of the model launched at the same motor show still in Geneva. It has been on sale from 1996 up to 2010 and stayed largely unchanged until a major restyling in 2000, when it received a restyling to reflect the new image of the marque, but remaining faithful to the original form jointly designed by SEAT, Volkswagen and Ford, under a technology sharing agreement between the Volkswagen Group and
FordFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, after the two companies found they were losing market share from the first generation of MPVs such as the
Toyota PreviaThe Toyota Previa, also known as the Toyota Estima in Japan and the Toyota Tarago in Australia, is an MPV or multi-purpose vehicle produced by Toyota Motor Corporation since 1990...
and Mitsubishi Space Wagon.
It seats up to seven people — the 5 rear seats being all movable or even removable leaving a flat-load floor — something that no other vehicle of the SEAT range could offer at that time. The boot capacity thus varies depending on the seating, from 256L with the full format of 7 seats, to 852L with 5 seats or even 2610L with only 2 seats. It shares most of its components and design with the
VW Sharan Mk1The Volkswagen Sharan is a large MPV produced by the German automaker Volkswagen since 1995.-First generation :The name Sharan is derived from a Persian word meaning "Carrier of Kings"....
and
Ford Galaxy Mk1The first Galaxy was designed as a joint venture product between Ford and the Volkswagen Group. Produced at the joint-venture AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, the vehicle was badge-engineered to create three vehicles: the Ford Galaxy; by Volkswagen Passenger Cars as the Volkswagen Sharan;...
, however the Alhambra tends to have more options fitted for the same cost as its two other counterparts. All three models were built on the same production line at the joint venture
AutoEuropaAutoEuropa - Automóveis Lda. is a motor vehicle assembly plant, located in the city of Palmela, Portugal.-Foundation:After signature of a joint venture agreement between Volkswagen Group and Ford in July 1991, the 2million sqm plant was built in four years, including a surrounding industrial park...
plant in
PalmelaPalmela is a town and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of and a total population of 58,222 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon.The municipal holiday is June 1....
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and were practically the same model but with different engine options and interiors, leading to the three vehicles being referred to collectively as the "Sharalaxy" or even "Shalambraxy".
Ford have now concluded their collaboration, and production of the Galaxy Mk III and the
S-MaxThe Ford S-Max is an MPV/saloon produced by the Ford Motor Company for the European market and by Chang'an Ford Automobile Co., Ltd for the Chinese market. Introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, the S-Max went on sale alongside the new generation Galaxy in June 2006. It is intended to be...
(a seven-seater based on the same platform as the Mondeo Mk IV) are built in Genk, Belgium, alongside the
MondeoThe Mondeo was launched on 8 January 1993, and sales began on 22 March 1993. Available as a four-door saloon, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door estate, all models for the European market were produced at Ford's plant in the Belgian city of Genk...
. The AutoEuropa plant has been outfitted for the production of the VW Scirocco III.
A more environmentally friendly version, the SEAT Alhambra Ecomotive, was also under offer fitted with the 2.0 TDI 140 PS engine producing 159 g/km CO2 emissions.
Engines
- Petrol
- 1.8L I4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
110 kW 20VIn automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve engine is one where each cylinder has more than two valves. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and can operate at higher revolutions per minute than a two-valve engine, delivering more power.- Multi-valve rationale :A multi-valve design...
TurboA turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
- 2.0L I4 85 kW
- 2.8L VR6
The VR6 engine is an internal combustion engine configuration, consisting of six cylinders. It was developed by the Volkswagen Group in the late 1980s, and evolutions of the original variant are still produced by them....
150 kW 24VIn automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve engine is one where each cylinder has more than two valves. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and can operate at higher revolutions per minute than a two-valve engine, delivering more power.- Multi-valve rationale :A multi-valve design...
- Diesel
- 1.9L I4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
66 kW TDITDI or Turbocharged Direct Injection is a design of turbodiesel engines, which feature turbocharging and cylinder-direct fuel injection, developed and produced by Volkswagen Group. These TDI engines are widely used in all mainstream Volkswagen Group marques of passenger cars and light commercial...
- 1.9L I4 81 kW TDI
- 1.9L I4 85 kW TDI
- 1.9L I4 96 kW TDI
- 1.9L I4 110 kW TDI
- 2.0L I4 103 kW TDI
Mk2 (Typ 7N, 2010-)
The second generation of the SEAT Alhambra was announced on 19 April 2010. The replacement Alhambra went on sale in October 2010. At 4.85 metres, the new car is 22 cm longer and 9 cm wider than the outgoing model. Like the new Sharan, access to the middle row of seats is via sliding doors.
In February 2011 SEAT presented the Alhambra 4WD version featuring a permanent all wheel drive layout combined with the 2.0 TDI 103 kW diesel engine and a manual six-speed gearbox.
Safety
In 2010, the SEAT Alhambra Mk2 was evaluated for its safety performance under the Euro NCAP assessment scheme and it achieved a
5-star overall rating :
| Test |
Score |
Points |
| Overall: |
|
N/A |
| Adult An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
occupant: |
96% |
34 |
ChildBiologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
occupant: |
80% |
39 |
PedestrianA pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
: |
46% |
16 |
| Safety assist: |
71% |
5 |
Awards
- ‘Auto Trophy’ 2010 for the imported MPV category, by the German car magazine Autozeitung
Autozeitung or Auto Zeitung is a German language automobile enthusiast magazine. It is headquartered in Cologne, Germany....
- ‘Best imported MPV’ in 2011, by the readers of the German car magazine 'Auto motor und sport'
auto motor und sport , often abbreviated to AMS, is a leading German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publisher that is 59.9% owned by the publishing house Gruner + Jahr.The magazine, originally...
- ‘Best MPV on the market’ award in 2011, by the British magazine 'WhatCar?'
- ‘Best MPV’ in 2011, at the UK Fleet World Honours
- ‘Best MPV’ in 2011, by the British motoring magazine 'Diesel Car'
- ‘MPV of the Year’ award in 2011, by panel members of the Portuguese ‘Car of the Year – Crystal Steering Wheel Trophy’
- ‘Best MPV’ in 2011, at the second edition of the Ecomotor Awards organised by the Spanish newspaper 'El Economista'
Engines
- Petrol
- 1.4L 110 kW TSI
- 2.0L 147 kW TSI
- Diesel
- 2.0L 103 kW TDI
TDI or Turbocharged Direct Injection is a design of turbodiesel engines, which feature turbocharging and cylinder-direct fuel injection, developed and produced by Volkswagen Group. These TDI engines are widely used in all mainstream Volkswagen Group marques of passenger cars and light commercial...
- 2.0L 125 kW TDI
Sales and production figures
Since its launch in 1996, more than 250,000 SEAT Alhambra cars have been produced and sold in its two generations up to the present.
In the year 2009, the total annual retail sales number of SEAT Alhambra cars was 5,923 vehicles, while the annual production of SEAT Alhambra vehicles came up to 6,215 units.
The total production per year of SEAT Alhambra cars, manufactured in SEAT and other Volkswagen group's plants, is shown in the following table :
| model | 1998
| 1999
| 2000
| 2001
| 2002
| 2003
| 2004
| 2005
| 2006
| 2007
| 2008
| 2009
| 2010
|
SEAT Alhambra
Total annual production |
21,300 |
27,440 |
23,924 |
26,524 |
26,308 |
23,693 |
21,580 |
14,902 |
14,352 |
14,242 |
10,282 |
6,215 |
10,023 |
External links