SEAT Will Strenghten Its SUV Offensive With A Third Model
SEAT’s model line-up keeps getting bigger. The carmaker will reinforce the product offensive that began with the Ateca with the launch of a third SUV, which will become the flagship model of SEAT. This new SUV will be positioned one segment above the successful Ateca, feature 5 and 7-seater versions, and will reach dealerships in 2018.
Prior to that, in the second half of this year, SEAT will begin marketing the Arona, a compact crossover that will be manufactured in Martorell on the same platform as the Ibiza. The SUV announced today will be built at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, enabling improved synergies within the Group by maximising the MQB A2 platform which is already installed there.
SEAT President Luca de Meo expressed his satisfaction with the new SUV: “This car will bring new customers to us, will boost brand image and will have a very big effect on our ability to generate margins. It will be designed in Barcelona and made in Germany. Producing the new SUV in Wolfsburg, in the heart of the Group, will reinforce the ties between SEAT and Volkswagen”.
Neil Dalton, Head of Marketing and Product at SEAT Ireland commented, “We are extremely excited about the arrival of the all new larger SUV model which will help us further infiltrate the SUV segment following the phenomenal success of the all-new Ateca. It’s a fantastic period for SEAT currently, as we embark on the biggest product offensive in the history of the brand introducing the all new SEAT Ibiza and Arona Crossover this year and looking forward to the arrival of our larger SUV in 2018.”
SEAT’s new SUV will extend the new models offensive beyond 2017 and will contribute to further improve the company’s financial result in upcoming years. In fact, the announcement was made during the presentation of SEAT’s annual results. The company posted the best result in its history, with an operating profit of 143 million euros in 2016.
SEAT is the only company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting 81% of its vehicles, and is present in over 80 countries through a network of 1,700 dealerships. In 2016, SEAT obtained an operating profit of 143 million euros, the highest in the history of the brand, and achieved worldwide sales of nearly 410,000 vehicles.
SEAT Group employs more than 14,500 professionals at its three production centres – Barcelona, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon. Additionally, the company produces the Ateca and the Toledo in the Czech Republic, the Alhambra in Portugal and the Mii in Slovakia.
The multinational has a Technical Centre, which operates as a knowledge hub that brings together 1,000 engineers who are focussed on developing innovation for Spain’s largest industrial investor in R&D. SEAT already features the latest connectivity technology in its vehicle range and is currently engaged in the company’s global digitalisation process to promote the mobility of the future.
