The History of Seat

IBIZA

Seat came to the attention of the Volkswagen Group as a potential partner in May 1980. Shareholder Fiat, which had been a licensor and technological impetus for the Seat model range, surprisingly withdrew from the Spanish company – with grave consequences. Seat suddenly lost its development capacity and its international sales channels. Furthermore, the product program based on the Fiat model range was in need of a thorough make-over. To start out anew, Seat required a partner with innovative product technology and access to international car markets. So the Volkswagen Group was more than welcome in 1981 when it commenced negotiations with Seat concerning co-operation to produce the Polo/Derby model series in Spain. From a strategic viewpoint, Volkswagen had the chance to expand its to date marginal position on a West European market experiencing above-average growth and catch up before competition got tougher as Spain moved towards membership of the EU planned for 1984.

SEAT BARCELONA
SEAT BARCELONA
SEAT 600
SEAT 600
SEAT 600 VOR DER VERSCHIFFUNG
SEAT 600 PRIOR TO SHIPPING

In 1965, Seat entered the export business, shipping 150 Seat 600s to Colombia, though contractual arrangements with Fiat severely restricted its export capability. It was not until 1967, when the licensing contract with the Italian car-maker was renegotiated, that export restrictions were substantially relaxed. In the same year, Fiat boosted its stake in the growing Seat concern to 37 percent. Following on from the exports to Colombia, Seat gained a foothold in Argentina, Morocco, Greece and Finland, where the Seat 600 D was the best-selling car between 1970 and 1973. Despite the Franco government’s attempts to close off the Spanish market by imposing high import duties, US car-makers intensified competition during the 1970s. Both Ford and Chrysler built their own assembly plants in Spain. These trends ultimately exposed the f laws in Spain’s dirigist economic policy, before the country adopted a more market-economy driven approach after Franco’s death in November 1975. On the orders of the Spanish government, Seat took over the British Leyland AUTHI plant in Pamplona in 1975 in order to avoid the social problems that the planned closure of the factory would otherwise have triggered.

CENTRO TECHNICO IN MARTORELL
CENTRO TECHNICO IN MARTORELL
IBIZA
IBIZA
PLANT MARTORELL
PLANT MARTORELL

The recession had clearly highlighted the latent structural cost problems which were hampering Seat’s sales as price competition on European volume markets became tougher. The consolidation strategy deeply affected the factory structures of the Spanish company. In December 1993, the Volkswagen brand took over the Pamplona plant building the Polo. Production of the Toledo was relocated from Barcelona to Martorell in Autumn 1994. Once production of the Marbella small car series was stopped in early 1999, the Zona Franca plant, the very first Seat production facility, focused on manufacturing components for Martorell and other Group plants. By the end of 1994 the workforce had been cut by one third, to 15,838, while the first work organisation reforms began to take effect. Flatter hierarchies more than halved the number of management posts. The new collective pay agreement established more f lexible working times. Moreover, Seat pushed on with the development of its Martorell plant, transforming it into a modular factory and utilising the potential for rationalisation offered by the Group platforms to extend its product range. Technically based on the Polo, the Inca small van and the second-generation Caddy went into production at Martorell in 1995. In the same year Seat launched the Alhambra, a people-carrier built as part of a joint venture by Volkswagen and Ford in Portugal.

QUALITÄTSKONTROLLE BEIM SEAT TOLEDO IM WERK MARTORELL
QUALITY CONTROL FOR THE SEAT TOLEDO AT THE MARTORELL PLANT
SEAT LEON
SEAT LEON
The specified fuel consumption and emission data does not refer to a single vehicle and is not part of the offer but is only intended for comparison between different types of vehicles. Additional equipment and accessories (additional components, tyre formats, etc.) can alter relevant vehicle parameters such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, affecting the vehicle's fuel consumption, power consumption, CO2 emissions and driving performance values in addition to weather and traffic conditions and individual driving behavior. Further information on official fuel consumption data and official specific CO2 emissions for new passenger cars can be found in the "Guide to fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption for new passenger car models", which is available free of charge from all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de/co2.