SPANISH car maker SEAT has taken the wraps off its second SUV - a compact model that puts the brand at the core of the booming crossover market.

The Arona is the first baby crossover from the Volkswagen stable and it will be on the road by the middle of November.

Styled in similar vein to SEAT's popular Ateca SUV launched last year, the new model is another which brings off-roader looks to the small car scene.

Sharp body lines, scuff plates front and rear and body protection around the wheel arches and sills have the desired effect but the Arona is two wheel drive only - albeit with a good amount of ground clearance.

Such looks work well - as Renault and Nissan have already discovered with their Captur and Juke compact crossovers - and SEAT is confident the Arona will continue its record breaking sales surge, already up more than 20 per cent in Britain this year to nearly 25,000 vehicles.

The Arona is some three inches longer than SEAT's Ibiza supermini but more importantly it is four inches higher.

That makes for more room inside, a higher driving position and a bigger than average boot at 400 litres.

The Arona had a VIP premiere in SEAT's home town of Barcelona where chief executive Luca de Meo revealed the new model only a few miles from the Martorell factory where it will be built.

Prior to the reveal the Arona was paraded over the city suspended 60 feet below a helicopter for all to see.

Luca de Meo revealed that SEAT had spent a total of 900 million euros in investments and research and development expenditure on the Arona and the new Ibiza, which is due for release in the next few weeks.

"These investments are a part of the total investment of 3.3 billion euros for the 2015-2019 period", he added, pointing out that a third - and larger SUV - was already in the SEAT pipeline.

Like other SEATs it is named after a Spanish place and Arona the city can be found on Tenerife in the Canary Isles making it SEAT's second ‘island' model after the Ibiza.

As with all SEATs, the Arona is aimed at a young audience and the line up will include some bright paint jobs, two tone finishes and the necessary technological hook-ups inside all centred on a new-look eight-inch touchscreen.

Big car features include adaptive cruise control, wireless phone charging and automatic parking while the likes of automatic emergency braking will be standard.

A 300 Watt, six speaker Beats audio system will be an option, as will blind spot monitors and rear traffic sensors.

Five engines, three petrol and two diesels, will be available in the Arona including the VW Group's new 1.5-litre 150ps turbo Evo engine which will be featured in sporty FR versions alongside a choice of manual or semi-automatic DSG transmissions.

The Arona will have its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and prices - expected to start around £14,000 - will be announced around then.