SEAT S.A. (from Spanish Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, lit. 'Spanish Passenger Car Company') is a Spanish car manufacturer that sells its vehicles under the SEAT and Cupra brands.[4] Founded on 9 May 1950, it was created as a joint venture between Spain's government-owned Instituto Nacional de Industria, which held a majority stake, Spanish private banks, and Fiat. After being listed as an independent automaker for 36 years, the Spanish government sold SEAT to the Volkswagen Group in 1986, and it remains a fully owned subsidiary of the group.[5]
The headquarters of SEAT S.A. is located in Martorell, near Barcelona, at the company's industrial complex. Over 468,000 units were produced in 2020, with more than 427,000 cars exported to over 75 countries worldwide.[6]
History
Establishment
Spain is the world's eighth-largest manufacturer of automobiles. Its car market stands among the largest in Europe.[7][8] This, however, has not always been the case; in the first half of the 20th century, Spain's economy was relatively underdeveloped compared to most other Western European countries and had a limited automobile market. In this period, car production was limited, with only a few low-volume local manufacturers catering mainly to the luxury end of the market, of which Hispano-Suiza was the most successful. Spain's limited market for mass-produced vehicles was taken over by foreign companies operating through subsidiaries that either imported cars or assembled cars from imported parts, depriving the country of the technological know-how and large investments needed for mass production. The situation greatly deteriorated with the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Car demand collapsed not only due to the greatly reduced purchasing power of Spaniards caused by war devastation but also because the multinational subsidiaries either ceased operations or were severely stricken by the war and its aftermath.[9]
The lack of interest shown by the foreign firms in the weakened post-civil war Spanish market opened an opportunity for local interests.
Leadership
- José Ortiz Echagüe (1950–1967)
- Juan Sánchez Cortés (1967–1977)
- Juan Miguel Antoñanzas Pérez-Egea (1977–1983)
- Juan Antonio Díaz Álvarez (1984–1993)
- Peter Walzer (1993)
- Juan Llorens Carrió (1993–1996)
- Pierre-Alain de Smedt (1997–1999)
- Bruno Adelt (1999–2000)
- Bernd Pischetsrieder (2000–2002)[42]
- Andreas Schleef (2002–2006)
- Eric Schmitt (2006–2009)
- James Muir (2009–2013)
- Jürgen Stackmann (2013–2015)
- Luca de Meo (2015–2020)[43]
Facilities
Martorell
The headquarters and main manufacturing facilities of the company are located in Martorell, an industrial town approximately 30 km northwest of Barcelona,[47] with an annual production capacity of around 500,000 units.[48] On 22 February 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain inaugurated this plant, which became the main plant of SEAT and was accompanied by its assembly plant at the coast in Barcelona's free port zone (Zona Franca). There is a rail link connecting SEAT's Martorell and Zona Franca facilities, which facilitates the transportation of vehicles and parts between the two locations.[49][50]
The Martorell industrial complex houses numerous facilities, including Cupra Racing
Presence in different markets
In its more-than-70 year history, it was only during the period from 1953 to 1965 that the firm produced cars exclusively for the domestic Spanish market. In 1965, in a rather symbolic move, the company exported some 150 units of its SEAT 600 model (licensed version of the Fiat 600) destined for Colombia by air freight for the first time, until two years later, in 1967, SEAT reached a deal over the renegotiation of its license contract with Fiat that allowed the Spanish firm to form an international distribution network for its cars and thereafter start its export operations to more than 12 countries, entering the export market in 1969. Until the early 1980s, however, most SEAT exports were sold with Fiat badging.[84] As a response to SEAT's bid for independence, Fiat committed themselves to sell 200,000 SEAT-built cars a year from 1981, compared to 120,000 the year before. At the end of 1983, just after SEAT had won its legal battle with Fiat, a quarter of the production went to Egypt and Latin America.[85] In Europe, they were represented in West Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, and Greece. The UK, Ireland, and various Scandinavian markets were planned to be added in 1984. This was despite the company only being able to export the Ronda, with the Fura to follow.[84] The exponential growth in exports in the '70s happened under the leadership of Juan Sánchez Cortés and the export director José María García-Courel.
Cupra brand
In 2018, the previous range-topping Cupra trim was launched as a stand-alone brand, alongside SEAT, and at the same time, SEAT Sport became Cupra Racing. Cupra describes itself as 'an unconventional challenger brand, based on stimulating style and contemporary performance that inspires the world from Barcelona with progressive cars and experiences. Cupra has its corporate headquarters in Martorell, Spain, and a network of specialised points of sale around the world.[98]
Motorsport
SEAT's involvement in motorsports began in the 1970s with the brand's contribution to the national formula races in Spain, and by the end of the same decade, the start of its involvement in rallies.[99] In 1971, the Special Vehicles department was formed with the mission to enforce the brand's participation in rally championships, resulting in 11 titles between 1979 and 1983.[99] The year 1985 was when SEAT Sport was founded as a separate motorsport division, and especially since the Volkswagen Group takeover in 1986, SEAT has been increasing, even more, its presence in the motorsport world, mainly down to VW's plan on focusing the SEAT brand as sporty to appeal particularly to the younger generation of drivers.[100] The results of this effort have been SEAT's most prestigious titles in FIA championships, three conquests with the SEAT Ibiza Kit-Car in the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup (1996, 1997, 1998), and two times with the SEAT León in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (2008, 2009).[100]
Rallying
Model range
SEAT models
Cupra models
Nomenclature
SEAT's corporate tradition, as a Volkswagen Group subsidiary, dictates that the nomenclature of its model range be inspired by Spanish culture. Thus, a large number of SEAT's production models have been named after places in Spain (e.g. Arosa, Ibiza, Córdoba, León, Toledo, Altea, Alhambra, Málaga, Marbella, Ronda etc.).[109] However, there have been several exceptions: for example, the name for the SEAT Exeo – added to the brand's range in 2008 – was influenced by the Latin word exire which means "to go beyond".[110]
Following the marque's naming trend with production models, many of SEAT's concept cars adopted names inspired by either Hispanic dances (e.g. tango, bolero, salsa), abbreviations related to existing production models (e.g. IBZ for Ibiza, IBE for Ibiza Eléctrico,[111]
Sub-ranges
Almost every model in SEAT's range has an 'Ecomotive' derivative version, which in comparison to the standard version has a more eco-friendly tuning.[117] Reduction of weight, low-resistance tyres, new aerodynamics, tweaks in the suspension,[118] as well as changes made to the engine's electronic management software with an additional implementation of a maintenance-free[119] Diesel Particle Filter (DPF) for the diesel engines, also updates in the gearbox and the gear ratios with a gearshift indicator in the dash panel reminding when it is the proper time to change gears, combined with an engine 'Start/Stop system' and an 'Energy Recuperation system' are some of the modifications adopted in the Ecomotive range in order to cut down both fuel consumption and emissions.[120] The result is a range with some of the cleanest models[121] featuring an improvement not only in gas and particles emissions but also in fuel economy, without big compromise in the vehicle's dynamic performance or practicality; for example the SEAT Ibiza
Sales
Since its beginnings in 1953, more than 16 million SEAT cars have been produced, with the most successful product in the range being the SEAT Ibiza. This model has sold over 4 million units in its four generations up to the present.[135]
In the year 2009, the total annual retail sales number of SEAT cars was 336,683 vehicles,[136] while the annual production of vehicles under the SEAT brand came up to 307,502 units (301,287 made in SEAT's Martorell plant and 6,215 in other Volkswagen group's factories).
The total production per year of SEAT and Cupra cars manufactured in SEAT/Cupra and other Volkswagen group plants is shown below. not comprising cars of other Volkswagen group brands, produced in SEAT-owned facilities:
Rebadges
Under Volkswagen Group's ownership, numerous SEAT models have been rebadged under other brands, either inside the Volkswagen Group's portfolio or out of it.
In particular, some examples concerning the rebadges deriving from SEAT models and being carried out under other Volkswagen Group's brands, are the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 which has been rebadged under the VW brand as the VW Polo Playa, the SEAT Córdoba Mk1 rebadged as the VW Polo Classic – FAW-VW City-Golf – VW Derby, the SEAT Arosa as the VW Lupo, and the SEAT Inca as the VW Caddy.
Further rebadges have come under non-Volkswagen Group brand ranges. Some notable examples are the SEAT Ibiza Mk1, which has been rebadged as the Nanjing Yuejin Eagle NJ6400-Unique NJ6400-Soyat NJ7150-Soyat Unique NJ1020, and the SEAT Toledo Mk1 as the Chery A11-Fulwin-Fengyun-Windcloud – Chery A15-A168-Amulet-Cowin-Qiyun-Flagcloud – Vortex Corda.
On the other hand, several SEAT models have derived as rebadges coming from other Volkswagen Group's brands such as the SEAT Alhambra Mk1 and Mk2 respectively from the VW Sharan Mk1 and Mk2 (the first generation resulting after a joint venture of the Volkswagen Group together with Ford) and the
Tuning companies
Several tuning companies have produced modified or high-performance versions of various SEAT models, some significant examples among those being Abt Sportsline, Je Design, APR, MTM, Abarth, Emelba, Podadera Design, etc.
Company profile
Logo history
- Notes
Leadership
Today as a Volkswagen Group subsidiary, SEAT's leading people are appointed after approval from the group's supervisory board.
Economic figures
Slogans
SEAT currently does not use a slogan. Here are most of the slogans used by SEAT before:
- SEAT, Grupo Volkswagen (19??–????; not quite a slogan but rather signifying Volkswagen Group ownership)
- SEAT, auto emoción (2000–2011)
Awards
Over the years the SEAT marque has been honoured with several awards, such as
- The Landaben plant, 100% owned by SEAT, S.A. by that time, received in 1986 the World quality award (Q-86)[221]
- The Martorell plant, 100% owned by SEAT, S.A., received in 1998 the ' Best factory of the VW Group in the first quarter' award
- The Barcelona 'Gearbox del Prat' plant, 100% owned by SEAT, S.A., received in 2009 the Volkswagen Excellence award for its high-quality manufacturing process and product[69]
- The SEAT brand itself in 2009 has been named 'Most Improved Used Car Brand of the decade' in the CAP Used Car of the Decade Awards[222][223]
- 'AvD Innovationspreis 2006' award for technological innovations developed at the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell, from the German automobile club 'Automobilclub von Deutschland' (AvD)
See also
- Sehol
- Formula 1430
External links
References
- Annual Report – 2019 & Past Reports seat.com, retrieved 2020-10-08^
- New CEO named for Seat and Cupra^
- Annual Report 2023 Downloads VW Annual Report 2023, retrieved 2024-04-05^