The future of Seat has been generating doubts for some time, since Cupra is performing very well in the semi-premium segment and it seems that the efforts within the Volkswagen Group are more focused on it. However, it seems that at least in the short term the Spanish brand is not in danger.
Tomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen, has let his colleagues at Autocar know: “We are still working on a plan for Seat. It’s good until 2028 or 2029. It’s an entry level brand for young customers. It really performs well in Europe, particularly in Spain, the UK and Austria.”
Of course, it also points out that it will be Cupra who will take the witness: “Cupra is the future of Seat. Cupra is the reinvention of Seat for the future. Cupra will move much faster towards electrification.”
But he is also aware that, although promising and with potential, he still has a long way to go. He points out that the sports firm has a very clear position within the group and that it has a special appeal for a “young and rebellious” audience, but that it is not yet a volume brand.
So, what is the future of Seat? Schäfer also comments that the key is to ensure that there is no conflict with other manufacturers in the group, such as the case of Skoda, focused on being the affordable brand of the family.
Thus, one of the alternatives that is being considered is to turn it into a mobility brand, a field that has already begun to be explored, among other things, with the presentation of its electric scooters based on the Silence and Seat Minimó models, a zero emissions trim very similar to Renault’s Twizy.
Be that as it may, it seems that there is room for the VAG Group to have time to decide what will become of Seat and that, at least until the end of the decade, cars from the Spanish manufacturer will continue to be sold.
