Seat is now emphatically present in various markets and has even seen the opportunity to loosen its Cupra label and continue it as its own brand. How different it was today exactly ten years ago. Then Seat seemed to go out almost overnight.
Ten years ago, the auto industry was left with the grave consequences of the global economic crisis. The crisis hit harder in some countries than in others. For example, Spain was hit exceptionally hard. Seat, which did not perform well before, was dealt an extra blow. Sales collapsed and the cars Seat still sold turned out to be less attractive anyway. Seat recorded a loss of € 339 million in 2009 and warned on March 25, 2010 that the next three years would become “critical” for the survival of the brand.
Seat CEO James Muir explained at the time that an investment of € 510 million was intended to keep the manufacturer afloat. The production of the Audi Q3 was also moved to Spain by parent company Volkswagen, in order to keep the Seat factory there somewhat running. The most important was yet to come; a series of new Seats that would appeal to the audience.
The third generation of the Leon played an important role in the improvement.
In the years that followed, the Seat Mii was first introduced. This gave Seat an attractive compact car again. The now very outdated Leon was succeeded by a completely new generation. That helped significantly. Deleting the Exeo, Seat’s most desperate attempt to boost sales, also didn’t hurt. The Toledo was still a bit of a miss, but thanks to the Leon and later the Ibiza, the Spanish brand managed to keep its head above water. Losses decreased year after year, and light came up again at the end of the tunnel.
In recent years, Seat has got things back in order. A new Ibiza has arrived, a fresh Leon, the range has been expanded with the Arona, Ateca and Taracco and the expansion of the portfolio with Cupra as its own brand is a fact. In 2019, Seat set a new sales record for the third year in a row. So it looks completely different from ten years ago. Now it is only to be hoped for Seat and especially for Spain in general that the corona crisis does not leave too deep a trace.