More than once over the last couple of decades, industry insiders have described SEAT as the Volkswagen Group’s ‘problem child’. The former Spanish state-owned manufacturer has been owned by Volkswagen since 1990 and has undergone a few image changes in the last 35 years.
For many years, buyers did find appeal in SEAT’s offerings – cars such as the Leon were better value and more aerodynamic than the Volkswagen Golf, with which they shared much of their metalwork, while the Ibiza supermini has long been seen as an excellent first car for young drivers.
For many years, SEAT was pitched as Volkswagen’s ‘sporty’ brand, and grouped internally alongside Audi and even Lamborghini. For its most potent models, SEAT invented its own version of Volkswagen’s GTI badge, calling it Cupra and applied it to cars that also plied their trade on the race track. Now, however, Cupra has broken away to set up on its own and is in the process of killing off its parent.
Read on to learn how the SEAT of today may not be here tomorrow…
So who or what is SEAT?
The company that would become SEAT dates back to 1940, when the ‘Sociedad Ibérica de Automóviles de Turismo’ was founded as a means of establishing a major car manufacturer as part of Spain’s efforts to recover from its civil war. The government then got involved in creating a national car brand, but the second world war badly delayed efforts to find partners with suitable technical expertise. Not until 1950 was SEAT – ‘Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo’ or literally the ‘Spanish Passenger Car Company’ founded, in partnership with Fiat.
[Editor’s note: We always write the company name as SEAT, rather than Seat. This is an anomaly, as the company name is pronounced “Say-at” rather than “S-E-A-T”. In contrast, we write Fiat rather than FIAT, despite that company name also being an acronym. This is simply because if we write “Seat”, almost every English-speaking person on the planet will instinctively pronounce the name as if it were a chair. Every. Single. Time. So we ignore grammatical best practice and capitalise the name.]
Fiat pulled most of SEAT’s strings for the next 30 years. Most SEAT models were little more than rebadged or restyled Italian products – though the SEAT 600, developed in-house and launched in 1963, proved the affordable car to effectively motorise the Spanish population. Not until 1967 was SEAT allowed to export cars, and the brand continued to grow, dominating the Spanish market while becoming better known in the rest of Europe.
By the 1980s, however, the Spanish government had decided that SEAT needed major investment to secure its future, and Fiat was not prepared to make the commitment. The two parted company in 1982 and then took each other to court when Fiat argued, unsuccessfully, that the SEAT Ronda was too close to the Fiat Ritmo.
The Spanish Government looked for a new partner, talking to Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi, and within months of Fiat’s departure, had signed a cooperation agreement with Volkswagen. In 1986, Volkswagen bought a 51% stake in SEAT and went on to purchase the brand outright by the end of 1990.
Within three years, a brand-new plant had been built in Spain’s Catalonia region at Martorell, which at the time was one of the most modern and efficient car factories in Europe. One of its first products was the Mk2 version of the Ibiza city car, greatly increasing SEAT’s market presence. From 2002 until 2007, SEAT was placed with the likes of fellow Volkswagen-owned brand Audi in a sub-group of what the management considered were the sportier parts of the empire.
One of the major developments of SEAT’s sporty image saw the establishment of the Cupra badge in 1996. Cupra, short for ‘Cup Racing’, was used to describe the most potent SEAT models and was employed in a wide range of motorsport activities.
For many years, however, SEAT had been causing sleepless nights for Volkswagen executives, unsure how best to utilise their Spanish outpost. Eventually, in 2018, Volkswagen decided to establish Cupra as its own brand, which has had the effect of accelerating the decline of SEAT.
Today it seems SEAT’s diminishing profile is deliberate, as the Volkswagen Group puts all its efforts into Cupra and has not launched any new cars in the last five years. With the German parent company currently fighting to remain competitive against the onslaught of the Chinese car industry, it’s unlikely to have too much money or patience to continue trying to promote SEAT – especially with Cupra proving to be one of the Group’s few bright spots at the current time.
SEAT won’t be completely dispensed with, however, with the brand potentially being reinvented as an urban mobility brand that produces electric scooters and microcars. But, at this stage, we don’t know any more.
What models does SEAT have and what else is coming?
SEAT’s model range has been around a long time now, with the newest model in the range – the current Leon – launched back in 2020. With several models now at the normal end-of-life threshold of seven to eight years, we’re not sure how long some of them will remain on sale.
The Ibiza supermini is now in its fifth generation, which has been on sale since 2017 – meaning it’s one of those models that would normally be replaced shortly. Under the shell, it’s basically a Volkswagen Polo. Available only as a petrol-powered five-door hatch, it underwent a mild facelift in 2021 and is still highly regarded in the small car sector, with an Expert Rating of A from The Car Expert.
The Leon name first appeared in 1999 as SEAT’s family hatch, immediately proving popular as a sportier version of the Volkswagen Golf. The fourth-generation model launched in 2020 and is still based on the Golf. It’s offered in five-door hatch and estate forms, with petrol and plug-in hybrid engines. The current Leon is considered more refined but less sporty than it used to be and also earns an A in the Expert Rating index.
In 2017, SEAT launched the Arona, a small SUV/crossover based on the Ibiza hatch. This time, it’s the Volkswagen T-Cross and T-Roc that share their hardware – the Arona is offered only with petrol engines, and again, it’s highly regarded, another A on the Expert Rating index.
Current SEAT range on our Expert Rating Index
The range is completed by two more SUVs and they maintain the trend. For the Ateca read Volkswagen Tiguan or Skoda Karoq – it was launched in 2016 and facelifted in 2021, but is now nine years old and overdue for replacement in normal car company planning.
Finally, there’s the Tarraco large SUV, SEAT’s version of the Skoda Kodiaq and launched in 2019. Now the only SEAT available with a diesel engine, it offers seven seats but the rear pair are considered cramped compared to rivals.
As for future SEAT models – see Cupra…
Where can I try a SEAT car?
SEAT’s dealer network is not as large as its fellow Volkswagen Group brands, but with more than 100 locations around the UK, you shouldn’t have to drive too far to check out the brand’s range. Most SEAT outlets are also shared with its spin-off brand, Cupra.
What makes SEAT different to the rest?
For much of its life, SEAT was considered the ‘sporty’ part of the Volkswagen Group. The launch of the potent Cupra models and then major works race programmes in both national and international touring car racing helped to build a solid sporting reputation.
At one time, VW Group separated its brands into the sensible side, occupied by Volkswagen itself and Skoda, and the sporty side. Here we found SEAT rubbing mirrors with Audi and another seriously sporty brand VW owned, called Lamborghini…
The image that resulted in the creation of Cupra certainly helped SEAT stand out from its fellow mainstream VW siblings – and Cupra now looks likely to be its legacy.
A SEAT fact to impress your friends
The SEAT Ibiza was not only the brand’s first independently designed car; it had engines by Porsche and styling by Giorgio Giugiaro – named car designer of the century in 1999 with his other work, including the Ferrari 250 GT and the DeLorean DMC-12.
Summary
For many years SEAT made better cars than many realised – offering Volkswagen quality with a little extra charisma. But with buying a SEAT seeming to be almost a guilty pleasure, the brand never sold quite enough of its cars. Now Volkswagen thinks it has found the answer for its problem child – reimagine it as Cupra. Will this cement the SEAT legacy? We can only wait and see…
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