For years, SEAT has not given benefits to the VAG Group, but many losses. The negative results were offset by the good performance of other group brands, such as Porsche or Audi. In full scandal #Dieselgate, Volkswagen has to rethink where to cut, as the cost of the crisis may reach 40,000 million, to hand out during several years.
During the first half, SEAT gave benefits, after seven years of losses, and cut the deficit in 1.39 million euros. The last five years, have been injected into the brand to 2,000 million euros, and announced other 3,300 million that have not yet been received. , there are Still no 100% with that money, by the need for VAG to make painful cuts.
To the Spanish brand of the VAG Group missing product type SUV, following the retirement of the Altea Freetrack. Over the next year will come the SUV segment C, and later we expect an SUV smaller (B), and a larger one (D). For the next two years, we look forward to four releases, and three of them are SUV. The Lion Cross Sport will not be, as we confirm that it has been cancelled.
The reality is not always pleasant, and it is certain that without the SUV, the fate of the brand was in a dubious future. Line of current products, we have several remarkable direct models for Volkswagen and Skoda: Mii, Toledo and Alhambra. The genuinely SEAT are the Ibiza and the Leon, again close cousins of Polo and Golf.
All that SEAT factory in Spain are models of great volume, after the parting of the Altea
The SUV’s are the new el Dorado, manufacturers generalists seek to have a representative on the segment B, C and D. This was lacking in the SEAT, and with no products of this type, the payoff takes longer to arrive. Surely these SUVS will be sold well, although not manufactured in Spain. The Mii and Alhambra are sold very little in relation to their cousins, these models might end up being discontinued.
SEAT right now is strong in Spain, but does not hold the first place indisputable from a few years ago. In addition to Spain, is a popular brand in German-speaking countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. how Could VAG unplug SEAT? Yes, but it would not be a decision too clever. The brand is not in danger of disappearing despite the crisis of the emissions, but if it happens two or three years ago, it would have been something more delicate.
has started a program of adjustments and efficiency so that by 2025 will save 100 million euros per year. Not only that, is by getting the fifth-generation of SEAT Ibiza, already premiering the modular platform MQB, and the fourth generation of the SEAT Leon below.
Until now, models of the heart of range of the SEAT are the Ibiza and Leon. Both models have grown in number of versions, came the bodies of your family, and the Lion the three doors and the crossover (Leon X-Perience). Specifically, the Lion has been one of the biggest hits of the last years of the company.
Spain is a country strategically interesting to stay
We remain the second largest european company by number of units, and we have a great network of suppliers and transport infrastructures.
In terms of the problematic politics of Catalonia, does not seem to be a topic that worries a lot at the leadership, at least in public. A relevant person in the company would not make statements when I asked for that topic. They are just waiting for the water to calm down.
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