The company reported an operating profit of 5 million euros in the first quarter of 2025, a decline of 221 million euros compared to the same period last year (Q1 2024: 226 million euros). This decrease can be attributed to several factors, including higher proportion of BEV vehicles in the sales mix and European import duties on the CUPRA Tavascan, which is produced in China. Additional pressures arose from a complex global environment and intensifying competition, particularly in key electric vehicle markets. As a result, operating return on sales dropped to 0.1%, a decrease of 5.8 percentage points compared to Q1 2024.
“The solid growth in vehicle deliveries —following CUPRA’s most extensive product offensive to date and significant investments in R&D — confirms the effectiveness of our long-term strategy.” said Markus Haupt, Interim CEO of SEAT and CUPRA. “European import duties on the CUPRA Tavascan adversely impacted our operating profit and return on sales in the first quarter, however, we are working closely with the European Commission to seek a resolution.” he added.
“We anticipated a highly challenging environment and competitive landscape for 2025, demanding flexibility and agility to reach our objectives. In the upcoming months we will continue to focus on the margin quality of our electrified vehicles as we advance with our cost control programmes,” said Patrik Andreas Mayer, Executive Vice-President for Finance and IT of SEAT S.A. “We will continue working on positioning SEAT S.A. as an even more sustainable and profitable company by focusing on our strategic priorities.”
CUPRA drives delivery growth
CUPRA completed its best first quarter ever and pushed SEAT S.A. to the second-best Q1 delivery figures in its history. The unconventional challenger brand sold 78,300 cars between January and March 2025, 38.3% more than the same period for the previous year (56,600). Additionally, March marked a new record as CUPRA’s best-ever sales month with 34,900 units delivered, bringing the brand closer to putting 1 million cars on the road.
The CUPRA Formentor remains the company’s best-seller with 26,500 units, followed by the CUPRA Terramar, the new sporty SUV of the brand, accounting for 17,800 deliveries. Electric model deliveries reached 23.7% of all CUPRA sales, doubling the percentage from the same period in 2024. Driven by the success of the CUPRA Born and the launch of the CUPRA Tavascan in 2024, the brand’s first 100% electric SUV, together with CUPRA’s fully-fledged portfolio, SEAT S.A.’s deliveries of electrified vehicles grew a record 95.3.% to 37,700 cars (Q1 2024: 19,300).
As SEAT gets ready to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025, deliveries of the brand reached 68,400 units. The SEAT Ibiza remains the brand’s best-selling model with 24,000 units delivered, followed by the SEAT Arona with 20,000 sales. The SEAT brand will refresh both models with new design cues as well as technological updates during 2025.
Anticipating a challenging year
The beginning of 2025 confirms the challenging context foreseen over the previous months. The increasingly competitive market and external environment, together with the import duties on the CUPRA Tavascan, had a direct impact on SEAT S.A.’s performance. However, the company remains confident on its strategy, leveraging CUPRA’s fully-fledged lineup and electrified portfolio to lead a new era of mobility.