Externally there are one or two interesting elements (being kind), but mostly it's a retrograde design. The external rear door handles, the front grille, etc. That and the fact that the overall shape isn't a lot different than the existing one. And that grille:
Internally, the dash is too conservative, with the two separate elements; the instruments and the grilles separated from the air conditioning control. With the current one, everything may be housed in crinkly plastic sprayed silver, but at least it looks as though they belong together.
The choice of engines looks more interesting from a DERV-head's POV: a 181bhp in the FR, and even a 148bhp in the Ecomotive (or have I read that wrong?). A longer wheelbase in a shorter, lighter body could be quite nice too. I wait to see the 3-door with some interest.
We all know the dire straits that the Spanish economy is in, and like the Euro, the Germans may not be quite so keen to underwrite their subsidiary as they were, so maybe Seat's orders were to produce a design that appeals to as many people as possible, and is unwilling to be as adventurous as it used to be.
Having said that, it hasn't hit as many branches on the ugly tree as the new Toledo.