The SEAT Málaga (codenamed ''023A'') is a four-door saloon produced by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

automaker The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, repairing, and modification of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries ...

SEAT A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

from 1985 to 1991 and named after the city of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Andalucía Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

in southern Spain. It can be considered a saloon variant of the

SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Span ...

, although the underpinnings of the Málaga and the Ibiza Mark 1 were both based upon those of the

SEAT Ronda The SEAT Ronda (codenamed ''022A'') is a small family car produced by the Spanish automaker SEAT from 1982 to 1986, and styled by Rayton Fissore in collaboration with the Technical Centre in Martorell. The Ronda was also briefly sold in the United ...

This was a restyled version of the SEAT Ritmo, which in its turn was the

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

version of the

Fiat Ritmo The Fiat Ritmo is a small, front-engine, front-wheel drive family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat, launched in April 1978 at the Turin Motor show and offered in 3- and 5-door hatchback and cabriolet body styles – from 1978 to 1988 with ...

. The Málaga most closely resembled the Fiat Regata, which was

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

’s own saloon version of the hatchback Fiat Ritmo. However, the SEAT Málaga and the Fiat Regata were developed separately as the two manufacturers had already ended their partnership by the time of the launch of their two saloon models. 1986SEATMalagarear

The SEAT Málaga was launched in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in September 1985, along with the SEAT Ibiza. It largely competed with budget offerings such as the

Hyundai Pony The Hyundai Pony (Hangul: 현대 포니), is a small automobile produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai from 1975 until 1990. The Pony was South Korea's first mass-produced and exported car. It has a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive lay ...

and those from

Lada LadaAccording to various sources, the name Lada is derived from a Russian word for Viking longships (). (, , marketed as LADAFrom 2004 onwards Lada is marketed worldwide, including in Russia, using the all-capitals brand name written in Latin sc ...

Škoda Škoda means "pity" in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto responsi ...

Yugo Yugo (), also known as the Zastava Yugo, Zastava Koral (, sr-Cyrl, Застава Корал) and Yugo Koral, was a subcompact car, subcompact hatchback manufactured by Zastava Automobiles from 1980 until 2008, originally a Socialist Federal R ...

and FSO. Production ended in May 1991, by which time SEAT had been taken over by the

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxon ...

. The car was replaced by the

SEAT Toledo The SEAT Toledo is a small family car produced by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT, part of Volkswagen Group. The Toledo name was first introduced to the SEAT line up in May 1991 being named after a Spanish city with the same name, with the fourt ...

, the first Volkswagen-developed car from SEAT. The saloon based on the Ibiza, the

SEAT Córdoba The SEAT Córdoba is the saloon, estate and coupé version of the SEAT Ibiza supermini car, built by the Spanish automaker SEAT. It was manufactured between 1993 and 2008, and was related to the second and third generations of the Ibiza. Fir ...

, was launched in end of 1993. The Málaga sold relatively well in Spain, but was less popular in export markets despite sharing the same System Porsche

Powertrain In a motor vehicle, the powertrain comprises the main components that generate engine power, power and deliver that power to the road surface, water, or air. This includes the internal combustion engine, engine, transmission (mechanics), trans ...

as the

. The Málaga was marketed as the SEAT Gredos in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

after the Spanish mountain range

Sierra de Gredos The Sierra de Gredos is a mountain range in central Spain that spans the provinces of Ávila, Spain, Ávila, Salamanca, Spain, Salamanca, Cáceres, Spain, Cáceres, Madrid, and Toledo, Spain, Toledo. It is part of the much larger Sistema Central o ...

, because the word ''Málaga'' was considered too similar to the ubiquitous

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

swear word '' malakas''.

Sales and production figures

The total production per year of SEAT Málaga vehicles is shown in the following table:

References

External links

SEAT.com
official corporate website Malaga Cars introduced in 1985 Cars discontinued in 1991 1990s cars Front-wheel-drive vehicles Italdesign vehicles {{modern-auto-stub