Seat Ibiza ST – B-segment wagon variant discontinued

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The Seat Ibiza ST has been culled. Autocar reports that production of the small estate, based on the Ibiza supermini, has been stopped due to poor sales, and the rise of the small SUV.

“Last year the B-SW registrations totalled 8,234 units, and September 2016 year-to-date shows a 3.2% increase at 6,705. However, their segment share was almost half that posted in 2009, at 1.72% of the B segment total,” said Felipe Munoz, a global automotive analyst at market research firm Jato. He added that Ibiza ST sales had dropped continuously since its 2011 peak of 2,544. Last year, only 686 were sold, and over that time its share of Seat UK overall sales fell from 13.3% to just 3.4%.

The demise of Seat’s Ibiza ST leaves the UK small wagon segment, also known in the industry as B-SW, with just the Skoda Fabia Combi and Dacia Logan MCV. Last year, Skoda and Dacia shifted 4,131 and 3,417 units of the Fabia Combi and Logan MCV respectively. Wagon versions of the Renault Clio and Peugeot 207 used to be sold in the UK.

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Munoz explained that the popularity of small SUVs is a main factor in the decline of small estates. Small SUVs have the benefits of an estate but are taller, and appear more capable and attractive to customers. There’s not big difference in price as well – the analyst pointed out that in the UK, the average price of the registered Peugeot 2008 in H1 2016 was 7.8% higher than the average price of the Ibiza ST.

The SUV killing the wagon is a general trend, and not confined to the B-segment, it is noted. “In general, the SW body type continues to lose ground in the majority of global markets. Only Italy, Germany and Northern Europe show a preference for that body type. SWs have almost disappeared from the US market, while in China and South America they are quite rare to see,” Munoz said.

A spokeswoman from Seat said that production of the Ibiza ST was stopped in May, and it was due to poor sales. This is in contrast with the Ibiza ST’s bigger sibling. The Spanish brand, when revealing the Leon facelift range last week, revealed that 35% of that C-segment model’s sales come from the Leon ST.

While wagons have their appeal, supermini-based estates have always looked slightly odd, proportionally, and we doubt that type of car will be missed by many.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 
 

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