2012 SEAT Exeo get a tweak for Frankfurt

2012 SEAT Exeo gets the smallest of tweaks

SEAT has had a play with the Exeo ahead of a a debut at Frankfurt with new nose, more efficient engines and new alloys.

Our instinct is to call the changes to the 2012 SEAT Exeo – SEAT’s take on the Audi A4 – a 2012 facelift. But we decided there rally isn’t enough going on for that.

Perhaps we should say the Exeo has had a facial peel or a bit of botox for 2012, as that seems a bit closer to the reality. But judge for yourself.

It is but a year since SEAT fiddled with the lights at the back and changed the shape of the seats to fashion a bit more space inside the Exeo, just so everyone who bought an Exeo just before the changes were wrought would always know they had the old seats and the old lights. It’d gnaw away.

And now they’ve done it again, but this time they’ve picked on the front of the Exeo to make changes so small only those who’ve just bought an Exeo would see them – and feel pain.

The 2012 SEAT Exeo gets Bi-xenons and LED running lights. But you only get the LEDs if you opt for the Sport. So the only change to the nose on the Exeo SE is the Bi-xenons.

The only other change to the outside is to the alloys, which are a slightly different design to the 2011 Exeo. But don’t worry, there are changes inside too. The steering wheel gets upgraded leather and the upholstery is ‘revised’.

Under the bonnet the 2.0 litre TDI gets a tweak to dip its CO2 as low as 129g/km and boosts economy to 57.6mpg. SEAT also promise to add stop-start some time next year. But not right now. Still, at least the prices stay the same.

So, should we have called this a SEAT Exeo facelift?