‘It can’t be done at the same time’
The future of Seat is still uncertain, also for the brand itself. This is evident from the words of CEO Wayne Griffiths in conversation with the British Coach. According to him, a decision still needs to be made, but Seat will in any case not participate in the EV offensive of the Volkswagen Group for the time being.
While the Cupra, which originated from Seat, already serves the market for electric cars nicely with the Born and more EVs are in the pipeline, it is dead quiet at Seat in the electrical field. In fact, there are still no electric future plans in which Seat has a role to play. At least, not in the automotive field. The Spaniards are working on electrically powered ‘mobility solutions’, such as shared electric scooters. In any case, an electric car will not come before 2026, the CEO said Coach.
According to Griffiths, the focus in that area will remain with Cupra. “We cannot electrify both brands at the same time. Seat is combustion engines, Cupra is electric.” For the time being, the model choice remains familiar with Seat and you can drive at most hybrid. Whether there will still be an electric Seat from 2026 is still anything but certain. “Decisions about future electrification of Seat will be taken at a later time,” says the CEO. In principle, the brand will not just disappear and there is at least a future for Seat as a supplier of electric city vehicles such as the aforementioned scooters and the Renault Twizy-like Minimo, but the question remains whether Seat as a car brand still has a future.
Incidentally, there is a side note to Griffith’s mentioned division of roles for Seat and Cupra. After all, the latter will soon simply come with a new model with a combustion engine on board; the plug-in hybrid Terramar. Finally, we have known the Cupra Formentor equipped with fuel engines for a while now.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl