You have to fear for SEAT’s future with no new models on the way
Editor Paul Barker wonders what the future holds for SEAT following the exit of former CEO Wayne Griffiths
I feel sad for SEAT. While the other Volkswagen Group bands have exciting new small cars to look forward to – such as the VW ID.1, ID.2 and ID.2 X, Cupra’s Raval, the Skoda Epiq and Audi’s Q2 e-tron – the Spanish stalwart is sat on the outside looking in.
And now it’s leaderless, too, with Brit-born CEO Wayne Griffiths’ abrupt departure being announced late last month, only a couple of weeks after saying that he was there for the long haul, and that SEAT and Cupra were in
his heart. No word yet on what prompted the decision, but Volvo and Nissan also changed leaders within days of the Griffiths news, so there’s clearly something in the air.
Whoever comes in to take over from a man who had been at the helm for almost five years will have plenty on their plate with SEAT, a brand that many people love, and is still selling in decent numbers in the UK at least, but is starved of product investment.
While Cupra is growing nicely thanks to a range of attractive and impressive new models, SEAT has been left to tick along with its ageing line-up. Ageing but decent, with the Ibiza, Arona, Ateca and Leon all highly recommended used buys.
At one point, the talk was of SEAT transforming into a mobility brand, but being positioned as VW’s e-scooter specialist and coming up with a Citroen Ami rival is a direction that has been quietly dropped.
Similarly, the plan to include SEAT in a group project that would give it a small electric hatch around the £20,000 mark has also gone, as VW goes it alone with the ID.1. There’s not even a Skoda version of that car planned, just the VW to take on the Citroen e-C3, Renault Twingo, Nissan Micra and others.
It does seem odd that the numbers add up when VW goes solo, but including SEAT and Skoda – as was the plan talked about as recently as last year – doesn’t make it more economically viable. And that has left a void for SEAT in particular.
So if a small car isn’t viable, and its core models are being revised rather than replaced, where does that leave the brand? You have to fear for the future of a car company that appears to have no new models on the way, nor any plan to pivot to a new purpose. Whoever ends up running SEAT (and Cupra) has a pretty big decision to make.
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Used - available now
2024 SEAT
Ibiza
23,878 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £15,495
2018 SEAT
Ibiza
64,440 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £6,950
2024 SEAT
Ibiza
26,740 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £15,800
2024 SEAT
Ibiza
19,569 milesAutomaticPetrol1.0L
Cash £16,300
2021 SEAT
Ibiza
27,234 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £12,469
2021 SEAT
Ibiza
52,115 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £9,697
2021 SEAT
Ibiza
45,600 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £9,841
2021 SEAT
Ibiza
56,993 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £8,950
2021 SEAT
Ibiza
26,970 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £11,999
