Seat will cease production of most of its cars, with the Volkswagen Group company chairman confirming that once the current models live out their lifecycles, they will not be replaced. Instead, Seat’s legacy will live on in the Cupra brand, which will also start to see strong investment from the VW Group. There are, however, plans to keep the Seat name alive.
Autocar reports that, when asked about the future of Seat at the Munich Motor Show, VW company chairman Thomas Schäfer said: “The future of Seat is Cupra.”
The writing has been on the wall for some time for the Spanish car maker. Although performing well in the 2000s and 2010s, VAG’s youthful brand started to show signs of fatigue. And with the growth of Cupra, which was spun off from Seat in 2018, the argument to keep both running can no longer be made.
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Observers noted the company’s confused identity. With Cupra dedicating itself to sportier and premium vehicles, it was hard to see how Seat — itself a sport-oriented brand at one point — made any sense. And without a dedicated electric car in the company’s lineup, the announcement comes as no shock.
There is a silver lining, however. The Seat name won’t be going away completely. Instead, Schäfer said that the Volkswagen group would “find a different role for it.” Previous reports have suggested the brand will pivot into offering mobility solutions such as scooters. The company’s Mo range of scooters is already in that space, and there’s potential that Seat could expand that lineup in the near future, while there’s still a possibility the Spanish brand will continue building small cars.
Another potential avenue for exploration would be quadricycles, similar to that of the Citroen Ami. In 2019 Seat showed off the Minimo concept with a swappable battery that could power the microcar for 62 miles (100 km).
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VW will continue to produce cars in Spain, too, with the company being an investor in a new €10 billion battery gigafactory in Valencia. It also plans to produce the VW ID.2 at the company’s Martorell factory.
Cupra, which is currently the fastest-growing brand in Europe, will continue to be supported, with VW planning to ramp up investment.
“I think it was the right decision in hindsight, but it’s a gamble,” said Schafer. “I’ve seen lots of new names come up and go, but this was a good decision. Cupra is bigger than Alfa Romeo and Polestar, so not just new brands but also old.”
