VW Group says "Adios, Seat" - Germans have given up on Spain's ex-national carmaker, Cupra brand to be elevated

Calling Seat (pronounced “Say-Utt”) the Spanish equivalent of Proton is not entirely true but the parallels are almost there. Both carmakers were once national car projects that were funded by the government before eventually being privatized following a takeover by a foreign automotive conglomerate.

Just recently, Volkswagen Group, which owns Seat announced that the 73-year-old carmaker would stop producing cars in the coming years. VW Group chairman, Thomas Schäfer dropped the news at the ongoing 2023 Munich Motor Show as he said popular models will be rebranded as Cupra while other models will be discontinued.

The Cupra brand which was established in 2018 started off as the performance variant of Seat models including the Leon Cupra and Ibiza Cupra hot hatches. Think of it as Proton and R3.

Also read: Proton did what? 6 hardcore R3 models that we'll probably never see again

However, sales of the Cupra brand have exceeded that of Seat as well as other established and newer brands like Alfa Romeo and Polestar. Schäfer told Autocar UK that the VW Group would ramp up investment in Cupra and said that it was prohibitive to invest in both Seat and Cupra as mainstream brands.

Cupra is considered one of Europe’s fastest-growing brands and targets young, urban customers with its sports-themed range of models. For the first half of 2023 (H1 2023), Seat posted massive profits and sales which are mostly fuelled by the Cupra brand which saw a 57% increase in sales alone.

Perhaps the writing is already on the wall for Seat for quite some time. It was established in 1950 as Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo or Spanish Touring Automobiles Company before producing its first-ever model, the Seat 1400 three years later.

Initially, Seat established a partnership with Fiat which saw many of its models being based on existing Fiat models including the 600, 124, 131, and the Panda. By the 1980s, Seat began launching models independent from Fiat and would eventually be bought over by the VW Group in 1986.

The VW Group era was defined by the introduction of models like the aforementioned Cupra hot hatches as well as the bold Walter de Silva designs of the mid-2000s. Yet, Seat was facing losses almost every year and outside of Europe and some Latin American markets, Seat has a very tiny presence.

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The company’s last all-new model introduced was the fourth-generation Seat Leon in 2020. Seat didn’t create any impact in Malaysia as the brand was never sold here but those who grew up reading UK car magazines would find these Spanish cars with a name spelled like the piece of furniture used to rest our bottoms to be very special.

Despite the decision to end Seat production cars in the near future, it’s not the end for the brand. Schäfer said that the VW Group would find a different role for the brand and it could likely pivot into other vehicles and mobility solutions like the Seat Mó range of electric motorbikes and e-scooters.

Though the Seat brand isn’t facing retirement, its essence as a carmaker is essentially gone but not forgotten. Its spirit will live on in the Cupra brand which expects to launch an entry-level electric hatchback and a sports car as early as 2025.

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