A Spanish car brand owned by Volkswagen may now be poised to add a new electric car to its line-up later this decade, after it was marked for death late last year amid sliding sales.
Volkswagen-owned Spanish car maker Seat – sold in Australia from 1995 to 1997 – may be thrown a lifeline with a new electric car rather than meet its demise by the end of the decade, according to a new report.
Last year the Seat car marque was in line to be phased out – and turned into a maker of mopeds and e-scooters – amid declining sales, and the growth of its more profitable Cupra sibling brand.
Now a report from the UK’s Autocar claims it may be saved from death with a new entry-level model based on Volkswagen’s upcoming ID.1 electric city car.
It was previously expected there would be no more new Seat cars after the current models reach the end of their life cycles, due in the next few years.
MORE: Spanish brand Seat was killed and revived overnight, but its future is bleak
Seat and Cupra UK boss Marcus Gossen told the publication Seat “will have a car in five years’ time”, and that “we’re working hard to have the right entry level for the [Volkswagen] Group, and the lead for that is Seat SA in Spain.”
The executive’s comments are carefully worded, as the Seat SA organisation also includes Cupra – which is known to be taking the lead on the VW Group’s new electric city car projects – and there is a chance the life cycles of the brand’s current cars may be extended to last for another five years.
Autocar claims Seat could gain a version of the upcoming Volkswagen ID.1, due in 2027 as the company’s entry-level electric vehicle priced from about £20,000 ($AU38,600).
This ID.1 will be smaller than the Polo-sized ID.2 – which will be twinned with the Cupra Raval, with development of both cars led by Cupra – but is expected to share many components with the larger hatch, including a shortened version of Volkswagen’s front-wheel drive MEB Entry platform.
If a Seat version of the ID.1 becomes a reality, Autocar speculates it would be cheaper than the Volkswagen – and represent the entry point into the entire VW Group range – given the Seat brand is positioned below Volkswagen within the Group.
“There’s no statement about [an electric] product for Seat today. There’s always room for dreams,” said Mr Gossen. “With the ID.1, you only make it work by sharing [technology].”
The ID.1 will be the indirect replacement for the Volkswagen e-Up, which was also sold with Seat badges as the Mii prior to 2021 (pictured top of story).
Cupra’s entry-level electric model will be called the Raval, but it will share its underpinnings and footprint with the larger ID.2.
After being acquired from the Spanish government in 1986 by the Volkswagen Group, Seat began selling lower-cost vehicles based on Volkswagen underpinnings, something it continues to do in almost 40 countries, including New Zealand.
In Australia, Seat re-entered the market in 2022, under the guise of its performance-oriented off-shoot Cupra.
The Cupra Ateca and Cupra Leon are high-performance variants of vehicles which Seat sells in international markets with the same name. The Cupra Formentor and Born are exclusive to Cupra, though the latter is based on the VW ID.3.
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