Iconic Spanish Car Brand Seat Confirmed To Be Replaced By Cupra In The Near Future

THE Spanish car brand Seat is set to disappear from the roads with the advance of electric vehicles.

Thomas Schäfer, the CEO of Volkswagen, speaking at the Munich International Motor Show this Monday, September 4, said that: ‘The future of Seat is Cupra‘.

The company would continue manufacturing Seat models in their current lifecycles the chairman pointed out. Several of these are planned to run through much of the 2020s – but the brand would ultimately have a new role in the future. Schäfer insisted that the name of Seat would not be scrapped and that Volkswagen intended to find ‘a different role for it’.

Seat is to be replaced by Cupra, Volkswagen CEO has confirmed. Thomas Schäfer has said “The future of Seat is Cupra”. The Seat name won’t be removed, instead Volkswagen will find “a different role for it”. #seat #cupra #volkswagengroup pic.twitter.com/8UWspkej4i

— AutoSpot (@autospotnews) September 4, 2023

Wayne Griffiths, the Seat president, had already suggested that this could occur a few months ago, but now the news has been officially confirmed.

Today’s statement probably came as no surprise given the fact that the Martorell-based automobile manufacturer was the only one that had not presented news at one of the most important motoring events of the year.

Seat is the only brand in the Volkswagen Group that does not have its own range of electric models, despite knowing that combustion engines are to be phased out in Europe by 2035. Cupra meanwhile is one of those best positioned in terms of electrification, with a wide range of battery-powered engines.

The Volkswagen Group bought Seat in 1990

Seat is a historic Spanish brand that was born in 1950. The Volkswagen Group acquired them in 1990 after purchasing 99 per cent of the company.

After this integration, Seat continued developing new models but made very few attempts to change the brand. Cupra has since positioned itself as a more modern and sporty brand within the group.

Just as Citroën developed a brand within its group called DS, Cupra was integrated into Seat, sharing a name. Now, it is Cupra that, after its implementation, devours the historic Spanish automobile brand.

Cupra has sold as many units in six months as in all of 2022

In the first six months of the year, Cupra has managed to sell the same number of units as in all of 2022, registering 107,300 units sold worldwide at the end of June 2023.

That represents a growth of almost 57 per cent, compared to the same period of last year. This is due mainly to the improvement in parts supplies in the factories – after the impact of the chip crisis – and the resolution of logistical problems.

Since its creation in February 2018, Cupra sales already account for more than 40 per cent of all Seat sales, as reported by okdiario.com.

The Premium Platform Electric (PPE) will be launched in 2024

The Volkswagen Group plans to launch its second electric platform in 2024. Its Premium Platform Electric (PPE) will be developed jointly by the Audi and Porsche brands.

This will have a ‘powerful and efficient’ electric transmission with a range of more than 600 km and charging with 800-volt technology.

By 2025 the Group plans to launch MEB+, an improvement to its MEB platform. It will feature ‘shorter loading times’ and new Volkswagen, Skoda and Cupra models with prices below €25,000.

⚡️ “We are continuously developing our MEB platform further to the next level, in all customer-relevant areas In its final stage of development, we call this “MEB+”. This means: more functions & technologies”, says Thomas Schäfer, @Volkswagen CEO, at our #IAA23 press conference.

— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) September 4, 2023

Volkswagen is also negotiating with Mahindra, the Indian automobile firm, to use components of the MEB platform such as the e-drive or the unified cell.

🔋 "We are well on track to become an e-mobility enabler beyond the Volkswagen Group. We are now in final discussions about the supply deal with Indian carmaker #Mahindra", says Thomas Schmall, Board Member Technology.

— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) September 4, 2023

The car giant also wants to expand in bicycle rental, both by the hour and by the year, through a new mobility platform that is being created together with Europcar.

🗨️ "Our mobility platform will cover different mobility needs, from rental offerings for hours to leasing for several years. We're soon adding third-party services like e-scooters & public transport for even shorter usage periods" – Hildegard Wortmann at #IAA23 press conference.

— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) September 4, 2023