Christian Felske is tall and softly spoken. A passionate and skilled car exterior designer, he begins to describe the elements that work to create the finely balanced lines of the car in front of us. “Tension, sculpture, character,” he quietly enthuses, pointing towards the Ateca and tracing its outline with his hands.
The artistry of his job is clear, yet modern car design is a complicated business. In the 1960s and through to the early 70s, designers were only restrained by the limits of their imaginations. There were a few rules that had to be obeyed, but generally they had a free hand.
Today, for very good reasons, there are lots of regulations, as well as design and use rules, that have to be followed. Heights of bumpers, angles of lighting and plenty more. Along with safety measures, there are also production considerations to take into account.
“We’d have liked to have had the sills curve underneath the side of the car a bit more,” says Felske, as he kneels beside the Ateca, “but the welding robot wouldn’t be able to reach underneath them to spot weld them.”
We’re on a millimetre-by-millimetre tour of the Ateca with Felske as our guide. “Naturally, with the Ateca we want to carry on from the success of the Leon. That car is our flagship; a car that we’re very proud of. It’s been a big influence in the design of our first ever SUV. There are three elements to the design: tension, sculpture and character. The Leon has very taut surfaces,” says Felske, “which the Ateca shares, but if you look at the body side you’ll see that it has more curve to it.
“How a car’s shape captures the light is absolutely fundamental. Like the Leon, the Ateca has quite a flat surface just above the belt line [the line running just below the windows], which catches the light. So too does the surface above the sills. These two areas, as they capture light, emphasise the tension and shape of the car’s flanks.”
![SEAT Ateca side detail](http://web.archive.org./web/20160710210118im_/https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dca234ae1669fec43b38df9b60feb4a5b93618cd/0_0_5760_3840/master/5760.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=b3ab1659282d49b0b861d649b6a4f205)
One of the most striking features of the Ateca, and one that will ensure it will not be mistaken for any other SUV, is the squared-off wheel arches. “Ah yes, we spent a lot of time and a lot of coffee was drunk discussing the wheel arches,” says a grinning Felske. “The team and I wanted to give the car a different look to the Leon and, of course, to its rivals. After much discussion we decided to adopt the design you see here. Not only are the squared arches distinctive, but they emphasise the car’s rugged looks.”
As we move to the front of the Ateca, there’s a brief pause as our guide points out the mirrors that are mounted on the doors, rather than on the quarterlight window. “The flat area makes it easy to mount them there,” he says, “and again it’s distinctive. We have regular meetings with designers from other brands in the VW Group to make sure that we’re not working on projects that are going to end up looking similar.”
The front grille obviously follows the SEAT family style, but above it sits a bonnet specifically designed to give the Ateca an off-roader look. “Look at the crease that we’ve put above the bonnet’s lip,” says Felske. “That’s also there to give the car a rugged look.”
As we move down the offside of the car, or driver’s side in a right-hand drive car, we come to the fuel filler cap. Here’s another area that has to comply with external forces. “We can’t just put the flap anywhere we want to,” says Felske, “because behind it sits the complicated arrangement of hoses that lead to the fuel tank. This is a good example of how closely we work with the engineers. We have to ensure that our design is production-possible and the only way to do that is by close cooperation.”
As we come round to the rear of the Ateca, Felske points out a subtle line and crease on the tailgate. “Designers within the Volkswagen Group are strongly encouraged to incorporate a feature that demonstrates the quality and sophistication of the Group’s pressings. You can’t put a detail like that in if you don’t have absolute accuracy in the press shop. That ability to produce sheet metal and panels to a very high degree of accuracy allows us to create designs and details that would have been impossible to put into metal a decade or so ago.”
Below the tailgate itself, on the rear bumper, Felske points to a detail that highlights the challenges a modern car designer faces. “You see that little flap there? That’s the cover that hides the threaded hole that the towing eye screws into. For obvious reasons the eye has to be attached to a strong point in the rear chassis member so it’s position is fixed and can’t be changed. Therefore the eye, and its little plastic cover, dictates the whole design of the rear bumper.”
Looking at the Ateca you would never know of these constraints. You are looking at a design that appears free from compromise and, most importantly, works as a whole. Felske and his colleagues have achieved their goal of creating a car that reflects the Leon’s design, but casts its own unique shadow.