Previously codenamed Bolero, (though not to be confused with SEAT's earlierconcept car bearing the same name) and internally designated Typ 3R,[4] the name Exeo derives from the Latin word exire, meaning "to go beyond",[1][2] breaking SEAT's recent tradition to name its cars after Spanish cities.[1]
This car was made available in four-door saloon or five-door estate styles only. Production of the Exeo ended in May 2013, with the final production number being 81,552. There was no direct replacement.
It incorporates interior trim from the A4 Cabriolet, and extensively uses A4 B6 and B7 interior equipment and electrical components.[4] To this purpose, the entire Audi A4 B7 production and assembly lines from Ingolstadt were dismantled and installed in Volkswagen Group's related SEAT factory in Martorell, Spain.[1]
The Exeo was officially revealed at the 2008 Paris Motor Show,[3] and at launch, it was confirmed to be available in just one car body style, as a four-door, five-seater saloon (Typ 3R5).[4] However, from August 2009, it also became available as a five-door, five-seater estate,[7] called Exeo ST (Typ 3R9).[4] ST is an abbreviation for Sport Tourer.
It became available for purchase in Western Europe in March 2009, with a model lineup which initially included three petrol engines and two diesel engines, with a third lower-powered 88 kilowatts (120 PS; 118 bhp) diesel engine being added from September 2009.
In May 2010, three new petrol engines entered production, these were the 1.8 TFSI 88 kilowatts (120 PS; 118 bhp), the 1.8 TFSI 118 kilowatts (160 PS; 158 bhp) and the 2.0 TFSI 155 kilowatts (211 PS; 208 bhp).[4][8][9] It was available with three different trim levels: Reference, Stylance and Sport.[4]
In 2011, the Exeo got a minor facelift with new bi-xenon LED headlights, revised engines and a new honeycomb grille.
Sedan (pre-facelift)
ST (pre-facelift)
Interior (pre-facelift)
Front (facelift)
Awards
Golden Steering Wheel Award 2009 in Switzerland, in the upper medium sedan category[10]
Company Car 2009 in Germany, for the SEAT Exeo ST[11]
Car of the Year 2010 in Finland, by the Finnish magazine Tuulilasi[12]
All available internal combustion engines are inline four cylinderfour stroke designs and are based on existing units capable to be fitted longitudinally in the Exeo's PL46 platform and have also been used in other marques of the Volkswagen Group. They all comply with the European Euro 5 emissions standard, and offer the following performance statistics (for the saloon version in standard configuration):[4][17]
The Exeo also features the same multi link fully independent front and rear suspension as used on the Audi A4, again with light weight castaluminium alloy front suspension arms and virtual steering axis uprights.[3] All models are equipped with ZF-supplied power steering, with some models having speed sensitive 'servotronic' variable assistance.[3][4]
Disc brakes are fitted front and rear, with the radially ventilated fronts ranging in diameter from 280 millimetres (11.0 in) by 22 millimetres (0.87 in) thick, to 320 millimetres (12.6 in) by 30 millimetres (1.18 in). At the rear are solid (un ventilated) discs ranging from 245 millimetres (9.6 in) by 10 millimetres (0.39 in) to 288 millimetres (11.3 in) by 12 millimetres (0.47 in). All discs, front and rear, use a single piston sliding brake caliper.[4]
Roadwheel options vary from a basic 7Jx16 steel wheel with plastic wheel covers, to a number of variants of alloy wheels, from 16" to 18" in diameter.[4] Conventional halogen dual bulb (H7 dip and H1 main) headlamps are standard, with self leveling single source Bi Xenonhigh-intensity discharge (HID) headlights[3] available as an option.
Luggage capacity in the saloon variant, measured according to the VDA 'block' method, is 460 litres (16.2 cu ft).[3] On the other hand, in the estate Exeo ST variant, the boot size starts from 442 litres (15.6 cu ft) (or 564 litres (19.9 cu ft) when loaded up to roof) and after folding rear seats it rises to 882 litres (31.1 cu ft) (or 1,354 litres (47.8 cu ft) when loaded up to roof with rear seats down).[18][19]
Sales
In the year of 2009, the total annual retail sales number of SEAT Exeo cars was 21,013 vehicles (12,837 units for the Exeo and 8,176 for the Exeo ST version), while the annual production came up to 22,981 cars made in SEAT's plant in Martorell.
The total production per year of SEAT Exeo and Exeo ST cars is shown below:
