2020 will also be the year of the electrification of Seat with the launch of a plug-in hybrid version of the new Seat Leon, built at the Martorell plant, and the brand’s first 100% electric vehicle
Seat will launch a new car every six months until 2020. The first two vehicles will be the Seat Tarraco and the Cupra Ateca, which will be marketed at the end of 2018. Next year the new generation of Seat León will come to dealerships with two variants: 5-door model and the ST family. And in 2020, the first 100% electric vehicle of Seat, with a range of 500 kilometers and manufactured on the MEB platform of the Volkswagen Group, and the incorporation for the first time into the Seat range of a CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle).

This was announced today by Seat’s president, Luca de Meo, at the annual presentation of results to the media, held at the ABC Museum in Madrid. Seat takes a step forward to boost electric mobility, which will include, also in 2020, the hybrid version of the new generation of the Lion. In addition, the brand will continue to focus on compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and combustion engines.

“We can be happy with the results of 2017, after five years of growth, almost 470,000 units sold and that Martorell almost 100% of its performance, but we should not be satisfied. Together, we have closed a period of consolidation and now is the time to look to the future with the ambition to grow, “said the president of the Spanish brand. «We want to become a very special and unique brand. Our ambition is to position ourselves as a reference in topics such as the connected car, “he added.

Four basic pillars
During the presentation, Luca de Meo has also detailed that Seat’s growth will be based on four pillars: “more brands, more markets, more cars and more energy”. Thus, in the first quarter of the year, Seat has launched Cupra, which has always been the maximum expression of sportsmanship and, from now on, «a brand to generate more income, attract new customers, continue betting on motorsport, integrate in a simpler way technologies such as electrification, hybridisation, connectivity or driving assistants and boost the image, credibility and reputation of Seat », explained Luca de Meo.

The internationalization of Seat will also be another pillar of the strategy. The company operates in more than 80 countries but only 15% of sales are made outside of Europe. In this sense, the strategic growth regions are North Africa, where Seat leads the Volkswagen Group vehicle assembly project in Algeria, and Latin America and Mexico, where the company is studying the feasibility of producing. In addition, in recent months it has also opened markets such as Norway or New Zealand, which makes it possible to have a presence on all five continents.

Towards autonomous driving
To continue growing, the Spanish manufacturer will continue expanding its range with more models. He has revealed that “2020 will be the year of the electrification of Seat with the launch of a plug-in hybrid version of the new Seat León, built at the Martorell plant, with a range of at least 50 kilometers, and the first 100% electric vehicle of the brand, manufactured on the MEB platform of the Volkswagen Group ».

The first electric vehicle of the brand, of which the first video images have been shown -and it has made us imagine an Ateca-, will arrive at the market with a competitive price, will have an autonomy of 500 kilometers and will have the systems of Infotainment more advanced market and at least a level 2 autonomous driving ability.

Finally, the president of the company has also reaffirmed Seat’s commitment to compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. «We lead the technical development project for CNG vehicles within the Volkswagen Group. With the Arona TGI that we will be launching this year, we will have the only SUV in the world propelled with natural gas ».

ABC MOTOR – Madrid – 03/22/2018 (Translation Soft)