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Seat feels just like the uncared for little one of VW Group in the meanwhile, however the Spanish model is protected not less than till 2028 or 2029, as confirmed by VW’s CEO and Chairman of Seat’s board of administrators, Thomas Schäfer.
Extra particularly, following latest rumors concerning the unsure way forward for Seat, Schäfer instructed Autocar: “We aren’t killing Seat. We simply have to determine on its future. We’re nonetheless engaged on a plan for Seat, It’s high-quality till 2028 or 2029. It’s an entry-level model for younger clients. It actually performs to Europe, notably Spain, UK, and Austria”
Learn: You Can Now Purchase The Cupra And The Seat Leon With The Identical 1.5L Or 2.0L Engines
Regardless of the remarks, the high-ranked official additionally mentioned: “Cupra is the way forward for Seat. Cupra is the reinvention of Seat going ahead. Cupra will transfer a lot quicker into electrification”. Certainly, Cupra has pledged to supply quite a lot of EVs within the subsequent few years, whereas Seat wants to attend for the price of batteries to go down as a way to begin electrifying its extra affordably-priced vary. In reality, Seat is restricted to a trio of PHEVs – the eHybrid variants of the Leon, the Leon Sporstourer, and the Tarraco – following the demise of the Mii Electrical.
Cupra has been successful by way of gross sales and profitability, in contrast to the at the moment unprofitable Seat which noticed a major drop in year-to-year gross sales over the previous few months partly because of the semiconductor scarcity. Nonetheless, Schäfer made it clear that the Cupra “isn’t a quantity participant”, providing higher-margin merchandise than the mainstream Seat and focusing on a special “rebellious, younger viewers”.
The issue with Seat is that the VW Group already has a well-established and massively profitable quantity model within the face of Skoda, whereas the sportier edge that used to tell apart the Spanish automaker’s fashions is now glad by the performance-focused Cupra.
In response to Schäfer, a attainable concept for the long run is to rework Seat right into a mobility model, one thing that has already been hinted at by the Minimo heavy quadricycle idea and the Mo 125 electrical scooter. Such a transfer would make Seat the VW Group’s equal of the Renault Group’s Mobilize, and permit it some respiratory house. Nonetheless, till Europe bans ICE-powered autos, Seat will hold providing its broad lineup together with the Ibiza / Arona siblings within the B-Phase, the Leon / Ateca duo within the C-Phase, and the Tarraco D-SUV flagship.
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