SEAT has improved the specification of the range-topping Toledo V5 by adding satellite navigation as standard. The car will come with a 5in colour LCD screen, with route recalculation to help drivers avoid traffic jams, included in the £16,995 on-the-road price.

The range will soon be joined by a high-performance TDI to spearhead a bid to win SEAT a bigger share of Britain's burgeoning diesel market. Boasting a 150bhp TDI engine and six-speed manual transmission, the car will be pitched as one of the best-value packages available to business motorists when it goes on sale next spring.

Likely to carry SE badging, the 1.9-litre turbodiesel model will be introduced to add pace to the Spanish brand's growth in the fleet sector. Capable of reaching the benchmark 62mph in only 8.9 seconds, the car has a top speed of more than 130mph, and potential economy of 65mpg on the extra-urban cycle. SEAT UK product manager Lindsey Bain said: 'It is an important product in the business car market because it will offer a good blend of performance. It will be Euro III-compliant, have a CO2 figure of only 143g/km and carry a particularly keen price.

'Even though a relatively high number of fleet motorists still seem to be ignoring the implications of the new benefit taxation legislation, there is now a heavy concentration on diesel power.'

She added: 'So far this year, diesel has been ordered on 70% of Alhambra models, 40% of Toledo sales and 20% of Leon registrations and we are confident it will grow. Our plan is to make the 150bhp Toledo available from next March and back it up by replacing the present 90bhp turbodiesel engine in the Leon S version with the 110bhp unit used in the current Toledo.'