Tag Archives: SEAT

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Cupra started production of redesigned Formentor and Leon

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At the end of April, Cupra revealed the redesigned Formentor and Leon, and now the brand has announced that the first cars have left the production lines.

The Cupra Formentor and Leon are the Romanian brand’s best-selling cars in 2024, with around 42,000 units of the Formentor and more than 25,000 units of the Leon delivered in the first five months.

At the 2020 Geneva Motor Show, Cupra premiered the compact crossover SUV (C-segment), Formentor, as the first car designed specifically for the Volkswagen Group sub-brand. So far, more than 347,000 cars have been delivered worldwide.

Cupra Leon and Seat Leon are fundamentally the same cars, but with several key differences. The car received Cupra’s firmer, sportier suspension with Seat’s cleaner interior design. Since its launch as Cupra’s stand-alone brand in 2018, more than 600,000 cars have been delivered worldwide.

Both models are produced at the Martorell factory, which was built in the early 1990s and has a size of 2.8 million square meters. It should be noted that more than 12 million cars left this factory.

The first deliveries of the Formentor and Leon are scheduled for 3Q 2024.

Source: Cupra

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SEAT is still alive

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In the last few years, many thought that Seat was dead, but the Spanish brand managed to show that it is still alive and ready to give its best. The year 2023 was the best in the history of this manufacturer, and the first indicators show that the year 2024 could be more successful.

The year 2019 was really bad for Seat, and the beginning of the pandemic made it look like the manufacturer would not get away. At that time, Volkswagen decided not to pay so much attention to this manufacturer, which ultimately turned out to be a good move for Seat. From 33 million euros in 2022, the operating profit reached 625 million euros in the following year.

The beginning of 2024 shows that this year could also be successful, because the sales results in the first five months are above expectations. In the first five months, Seat delivered 121,169 new vehicles in Europe, which is a growth of 10.3 percent compared to last year when 109,827 vehicles were delivered. Also, according to the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Seat sold 4,385 cars in May, which is 21.1% more than in the same month of 2023. This is the best result in the VW group.

These results were supported by the fact that customers, due to the increase in the price of electric cars, are still buying ICE vehicles. Seat has five models in its fleet (Ibiza, Arona, Ateca, Leon and Tarraco), none of which are all-electric. The Ibiza, Arona and Ateca are the best-selling models, and only the Leon and Tarraco come with hybrid versions.

Current models with refreshed editions remain on the market for at least the next four years, but the question of electrification remains open.

Source: Seat

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Seat is coming back with an EV that will cost less than 20k euros

Although VW at the Munich Motor Show (4th Sept 2023) confirmed that the SEAT brand is to be fully replaced with CUPRA, the Spanish brand is coming back to the market with a new electric car that will cost under 20,000 euros.

Seat will soon reveal several novelties, and some of them are redesigned editions of the Ibiza and Arona models, and the Ateca SUV. All models will be powered by internal combustion engines. However, this will not be enough because due to the growth in demand for electric cars, Seat will have to return to EVs.

Before the Spanish brand fell into crisis, it achieved good results in the market with its electric model Mii Electric, which gives it hope that the same will happen with the new electric model. It will be a smaller and more affordable car, and the price is the key and decisive factor for Seat’s electric future. This means that the price must not exceed 20,000 euros, which is cheaper than the Cupra Raval.

Chinese car manufacturers are putting a lot of pressure on European manufacturers and are aggressively attacking the market of the old continent. Volkswagen is one of the companies that is trying to find a solution for this, and Seat could be the ace up its sleeve, because the survival of electrification in Europe lies in small car formats in lower price segments.

Source: Autocar