Audi Q2 vs DS 4 Crossback vs Seat Ateca

What will they cost?

If you’re buying with cash then the Audi Q2 will cost you the most to buy, albeit by only a few hundred pounds over the Seat Ateca after dealer discounts. The DS 4 is cheapest by some margin, both before and after haggling.

However, your initial savings on the DS 4 are outstripped by the other cars’ better resale values. The DS 4 also costs the most to insure and service, making the Ateca and Q2 cheaper options over three years. In the Q2’s case, that gap is some £1400, but the Ateca costs nearly £3400 less than the DS 4 to own, mainly due to its remarkably slow predicted depreciation.

However, the majority of buyers will be looking to finance their small SUV, and here the DS has more appeal. Put down a £5000 deposit on a three-year PCP deal – restricted to 10,000 miles a year – and you’ll pay £243 a month. The Q2 and Ateca will both cost you £11 more a month on the same terms.

All three cars come with air conditioning, electric front windows and mirrors, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, automatic headlights and wipers, alloy wheels, cruise control and tyre pressure monitoring as standard. The Q2 stands out as the only car that doesn’t come with standard climate control, a reversing camera or keyless entry and start, though, and it has cloth seats compared with the DS 4’s half-leather and Ateca’s full leather ones. The Q2 also makes do with halogen headlights rather than the DS’s xenons or the Ateca’s full-LED set.

Security equipment is a more level playing field because all three cars have an alarm and immobiliser. However, the Ateca edges ahead, with seven airbags compared with the Q2 and DS 4’s six. Disappointingly, the DS also misses out on automatic emergency braking, which is standard on the other two.

Like the Ateca, the DS 4 was awarded five stars for safety by Euro NCAP, but under an older, less stringent set of criteria. The Q2 is yet to be crash tested. All three cars scored equally highly in their Thatcham break-in tests.