The SEAT Alhambra is a seven-seater

minivan Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...

that was built from 1996 to 2020. It was manufactured under the

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair ...

brand from June 1996 onwards at the

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercia ...

AutoEuropa Volkswagen Autoeuropa Lda. is an automotive assembly plant, located in the city of Palmela, near Lisbon, Portugal. Formed in 1991, it began operations in 1995 fully owned by Volkswagen. It is the largest foreign industrial investment in Portugal. ...

plant in

Palmela Palmela () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 62,831, in an area of 465.12 km². The municipality is located in the Lisboa Region and Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon. The municipal holiday is 1 Ju ...

, Portugal. It shares the same

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

with the

Volkswagen Sharan The Volkswagen Sharan is a seven-seater minivan that was produced by the German Volkswagen Group and built at the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, with a front-wheel-drive version across two generations, from 1995 to 2022. Through badge engi ...

, and the first generation was also related to the

Ford Galaxy The Ford Galaxy is a seven-seater car produced by Ford of Europe from June 1995 to April 2023. Considered in the motor industry to be a large multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), it was the first Ford-brand MPV produced and marketed outside of North Ame ...

. The vehicle is named after the

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city 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 c ...

, a famous monument in Spain. It is considered in the motor industry to be a large multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).

First generation (''Typ'' 7M; 1996)

A prototype of the first generation SEAT Alhambra was presented at the 1995 Geneva Salon International de l'Auto. The following year the production Alhambra was launched at the same motor show and went on sale in June. The Alhambra shares most of its components and design with the VW Sharan Mk1 and Ford Galaxy Mk1. However, the Alhambra has more options fitted for a given price range. The Alhambra has seven seats—the five rear seats can be folded down or unclipped and removed completely. When removed the seats leave a flat-floored load space, a unique feature for SEAT vehicles at that time. The load volume varies, from 256l with seven seats, to 852l with five seats, and 2610l with only the two front seats fitted. The Alhambra was essentially unchanged from 1996 to 2010 but a major restyling in the year 2000 reflected the new SEAT image. Even so, the Alhambra remained faithful to the original design produced under the Volkswagen Group and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

technology sharing agreement. When Volkswagen and Ford lost market share to other manufacture's MPVs, including the

Toyota Previa The Toyota Previa, also known as the in Japan, and Toyota Tarago in Australia, is a minivan that was produced by Toyota from 1990 until October 2019 across three generations. The name "Previa" is derived from the Spanish and Italian for "pre ...

and

Mitsubishi Space Wagon The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

, they changed the design of their versions. The Alhambra, Sharan, and Galaxy were built on the same production line at the joint venture

plant in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

, and were essentially the same but with different engine options and interiors. Ford has now withdrawn from the collaboration, and the Galaxy Mk III and the S-Max (a seven-seater based on the Mondeo Mk IV platform) are built in Genk, Belgium, alongside the Mondeo. The AutoEuropa plant did produce the VW Scirocco III from 2008 to 2017. Introduced in 2009, the SEAT Alhambra Ecomotive is fitted with the 2.0 TDI engine producing 159 g/km CO2 emissions. 1997 SEAT Alhambra TDi 1.9 Rear.jpg, Seat Alhambra pre-facelift (United Kingdom) SEAT Alhambra Mk1 odometer.jpg, SEAT Alhambra first generation pre-facelift instrument panel Seat Alhambra Facelift 20090706 front.JPG, Seat Alhambra facelift (Europe) Seat Alhambra Facelift 20090706 rear.JPG, Seat Alhambra facelift (Europe)

Awards

*'Monovolume do Ano' award in 1997, in Portugal

Engines

*Petrol **1.8L I4 20V

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

**2.0L I4 **2.8L

VR6 VR6 engines are V6 piston engines with a narrow angle between the cylinder banks and a single cylinder head covering both banks of cylinders. Volkswagen Group introduced the first VR6 engine in 1991 and VR6 engines currently remain in productio ...

24V *Diesel **1.9L I4

TDI TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection) is Volkswagen Group's term for its current common rail Fuel injection#Direct injection, direct injection turbodiesel engine range that have an intercooler in addition to the turbo compressor. TDI engines are u ...

**1.9L I4 TDI **1.9L I4 TDI **1.9L I4 TDI **1.9L I4 TDI **2.0L I4 TDI

Second generation (''Typ'' 7N; 2010)

The second generation SEAT Alhambra was announced on 18 October 2011 and went on sale in March 2012. At long, it is 22 cm longer than the first generation: it is also 9 cm wider. Like the new Sharan, access to the middle row of seats is via sliding doors. In February 2013 SEAT presented the Alhambra four-wheel-drive version featuring a permanent all wheel drive combined with the 2.0 TDI diesel engine and a manual six-speed gearbox. In September 2015 the UK diesel models of the Alhambra were revised to meet the Euro 6 standards and the power outputs increased from to and from to . In March 2020 SEAT announced production of the Alhambra would end that month. File:12-02-02-autostadt-wolfsburg-046.jpg, SEAT Alhambra second generation rear doors now slide open rather than being hinged. File:Seat Alhambra Style (II, Facelift) – h 20052021.jpg, Rear view

Safety

Euro NCAP

=2010

= In 2010, the safety of the second generation SEAT Alhambra was assessed under the

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in Februa ...

scheme; it achieved a 5-star overall rating:

=2019

= The Alhambra in its standard European configuration received 4 stars from

in 2019.

Awards

* ‘Auto Trophy’ 2010 for the imported MPV category, by the German car magazine ''

Autozeitung ''Autozeitung'' or ''Auto Zeitung'' (German: "Automobile Newspaper") is a German-language biweekly automobile enthusiast magazine. It is headquartered in Cologne, Germany. History and profile ''Autozeitung'' was established in 1969. The magazine ...

'' * ‘Best imported MPV’ in 2011, by the readers of the German car magazine ''

Auto, Motor und Sport ''Auto Motor und Sport'', often stylized as auto motor und sport and abbreviated AMS or AMuS, is a German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk's subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publis ...

'' * ‘Best MPV on the market’ award in 2011, by the British magazine ''

What Car? ''What Car?'' is a British monthly automobile magazine and website, currently edited by Steve Huntingford and published by Haymarket Consumer Media. Other team members include deputy editor Darren Moss and test editors Will Nightingale, Neil ...

'' * ‘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'' * ‘Best MPV on the market’ award in 2012, by the British magazine ''What Car?'' * ‘Best MPV on the market’ award in 2013, by the British magazine ''What Car?''

Engines

*Petrol **1.4 L 110 kW (150 hp) TSI **2.0 L 147 kW (200 hp) TSI *Diesel **2.0 L 103 kW (140 hp)

**2.0 L 130 kW (177 hp) TDI **2.0 L 85 kW (114 hp) TDI

Sales

Since 1996, 250,000 SEAT Alhambra. In the year 2009, the total annual retail sales number of SEAT Alhambra cars was 6,215 vehicles.SEAT Annual report 2009 http://media.seat.com/info2010/annualreport/pantallacompleta.html The total production per year of Alhambras is shown below:

References

External links

SEAT Alhambra official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seat Alhambra

Minivans Cars of Portugal Front-wheel-drive vehicles Euro NCAP large MPVs Cars introduced in 1996 2000s cars 2010s cars 2020s cars Cars powered by VR engines