Seat wants to consolidate its commercial strategy centered on the new Cupra brand with a 100% electric SUV model called Tavascan, the name of a small mountain area in Pallars Sobirà . Yesterday the company presented the vehicle in Berlin, of which it expects to sell around 70,000 units a year.
Although the car will be manufactured in China, it has been developed and designed in Barcelona. Seat’s bet on Cupra is total, as there is currently no new model of the future with the Seat brand, neither electric nor conventional combustion. About the future of Cupra he said that “if there was anyone who doubted it, now they are fewer”, said the CEO of Seat, Wayne Griffiths, in a meeting with the press.
“Since its launch, Cupra has sold more than 300,000 cars and is the fastest growing brand in Europe. With a record figure of more than 46,000 units sold in the first quarter of 2023, Cupra is driving Seat’s profitability,” he added. It is 83% more than in 2022. Once Seat’s current models stop being manufactured, the brand will focus on the mobility services of the Spanish company based in Martorell.
The Tavascan will be manufactured specifically at the Volkswagen Group plant in Anhui, China. It will be the first model of the Volkswagen consortium to leave the Asian plant. Regarding the geopolitical risks involved in making a model exclusively in China, Griffths replied that “I am an optimistic person and I see the opportunities and not only the risks”. According to the manager, “manufacturing in China is a good sign for us and for Volkswagen”.
The Tavascan is Cupra’s second 100% electric car after the Born model. At the Martorell factory, it is planned to assemble the small electric urban model of the Volkswagen brand and the Cupra brand. But Seat and the company committee aspire to achieve a second platform that guarantees employment and activity in Martorell with the end of combustion engines and the emergence of electric ones. “We are fighting for a second electric platform for Martorell”, he insisted.
The Cupra Formentor is the best-selling model not only of the new brand but of Seat as a whole. The Tavascan could be placed as the second.
The presentation of the new model in Berlin was attended, among others, by the Minister for Business of the Generalitat, Roger Torrent. The councilor emphasized that “Seat-Cupra is a strategic partner for the Government and for the transformation of the automotive sector”.
The company’s forecasts are that this year Cupra will contribute more than 50% of the business volume. The Seat brand will focus on micromobility, understood mainly as motorcycles and small electric urban vehicles. “I know what Seat means to the country. And my challenge is to renew this company”, said Griffiths. In his opinion, the company is very well positioned in Spain but the purchase of electric cars needs to be encouraged there. “To manufacture cars in Spain you also have to sell them”, he said.
Last year, Seat managed to get out of losses. The volume of business grew by 14%, up to a total of 10,513 million euros. It is the second highest level of sales in the history of the group. Operating profit reached 179 million euros, in contrast to losses of 371 million the previous year, although 293 million euros of extraordinary early retirement costs had previously been discounted.
