Cupra is increasing globally, and that has come on the expense of SEAT.
The model Cupra was spun off from isn’t lifeless, however the firm has confirmed it should cease producing automobiles.
“The way forward for Seat is Cupra,” Volkswagen model CEO Thomas Schäfer informed Autocar.
He informed the publication all present SEAT fashions shall be retired on the finish of their present lifecycles because the model is wound down as a carmaker.
Nonetheless, the SEAT identify will stay on, with Schäfer confirming the Volkswagen Group “would discover a completely different function for it”. That might be as a mobility options supplier, because the model already produces the SEAT Mo electrical scooter.
Schäfer informed Autocar it was prohibitive to put money into each manufacturers, and there was better incomes potential for Cupra, which has been transitioning to a completely fledged model which the chief confirmed will see a “ramp up” in funding.
Schäfer famous Cupra is the fastest-growing model in Europe and is standard even in its (and SEAT’s) Spanish homeland.
Confirming hypothesis, he additionally stated the plan to switch SEAT with Cupra was set in movement way back, with plans to reinvigorate SEAT scuttled as a result of model’s historical past of creating losses.
“I feel it was the best determination in hindsight, however it’s a chance,” stated Schäfer. “I’ve seen a lot of new names come up and go however this was a superb determination. Cupra is larger than Alfa Romeo and Polestar, so not simply new manufacturers but additionally outdated.”
A few of Cupra’s fashions, together with the Ateca and Leon, are merely higher-spec variations of present SEAT merchandise.
SEAT additionally produces the Ibiza mild hatch, Arona small crossover and Tarraco massive crossover, which don’t have Cupra equivalents.
Likewise, Cupra produces the Formentor and Born, which aren’t supplied in SEAT guise.
The Born was truly revealed as a SEAT, earlier than the corporate determined to as a substitute introduce it as a Cupra – a transfer that appeared to seal SEAT’s destiny as a automotive model. Cupra subsequently revealed the Tavascan and Terramar which, likewise, received’t be supplied as SEATs.
SEAT’s future additionally seemed grim when plans for it to enter the Chinese language market had been scuttled. The Volkswagen Group as a substitute opted to introduce a brand new model, Jetta, which truly sells a few calmly restyled SEATs.
It’s unclear exactly when the present crop of SEATs will disappear. The Cupra Leon is due for a facelift in 2024, and it seems unlikely the Volkswagen Group will put money into a SEAT counterpart.
The Ibiza and Arona, cousins to the Volkswagen Polo and T-Cross, debuted in 2017 whereas the Tarraco, a counterpart to the Skoda Kodiaq, adopted a 12 months later. With a brand new Kodiaq being revealed this 12 months, the Tarraco’s time is coming to an finish, very similar to its barely older showroom mates’.
SEAT, or Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, has an extended historical past.
It was based in 1950 as a three way partnership between the state-run Instituto Nacional de Industria, Spanish personal banks, and Fiat.
For a few years, SEAT merely manufactured rebadged Fiat autos.
SEAT’s relationship with Fiat resulted in 1982 as the previous wanted capital the latter wouldn’t present.
With the tie-up having dissolved, SEAT started introducing autos that had been greater than mere rebadges, together with the Ronda – a restyled Fiat Ritmo – and the Ibiza hatch and Malaga sedan, which had been additional evolutions of those underpinnings.
SEAT discovered a suitor just some years later, with Volkswagen buying 75 per cent of the Spanish model. SEAT grew to become a completely owned subsidiary of the German automaker in 1990.
Whereas predominantly bought in European markets, SEAT entered the Australian market in 1995 as a extra budget-oriented counterpart to the Volkswagen model.
It supplied the Ibiza mild hatch, its Cordoba sedan spinoff, and the mid-sized Toledo hatch. Nevertheless it struggled to compete with the rebel Korean manufacturers on value – Daewoo, for instance, entered the Australian market on the identical time however managed to double SEAT’s gross sales tally in 1995 and stored rising whereas SEAT shrunk.
By 1997, the model had nearly collapsed in Australia, and by 1998 it entered a interval of hibernation as vendor franchises dropped it in document numbers.
It relaunched for 1999 with a repositioned, tweaked vary, however just some months later its native distributor referred to as time of loss of life, blaming “the onset of the Asian foreign money disaster coupled with quite a lot of different obstacles”.
Volkswagen would go on to realize vastly better success with the native reintroduction of the Skoda model.
MORE: 25 years of failures: The automotive manufacturers that didn’t achieve Australia, Half II: SEAT
