Just thirty years after the opening of its main production site in Martorell, Spain, SEAT S. A. announced that it would use the site as the site of its biggest transformation towards electrification to date. Following an investment of 3 billion euros (~$3. 2 billion), SEAT intends to lead the progression and a small BEV production facility for various brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella.
SEAT S. A. es a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 and a hundred percent subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1986. The call is an acronym that stands for “Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo”, but SEAT leaves the language a little faster.
To date, SEAT operates from its headquarters and its main production footprint in Martorell, about 20 miles from Barcelona. The Spanish automaker said it had produced more than 12 million forty-five model cars at the plant, exporting them to more than 70 countries. .
At the moment, SEAT sells a BEV, the Cupra Born, but it is being built through Volkswagen in Zwickau, Germany, alongside its dual ID. 3. As the Martorell plant celebrates its 30th anniversary since its inauguration in 1993, SEAT has announced a significant investment to (at least begin) go electric.
According to a statement issued today by SEAT, SEAT will use the investment of 3,000 million euros to move its Martorell plant from combustion to electric in all areas: “research and development, production and logistics, advertising and personnel, and organization”.
The site’s main plant is expected to start production of all-electric cars for various Volkswagen Group brands until 2025 as part of a strategic plan consisting of five main pillars:
SEAT’s transformation is parallel to the electrification objectives of the parent company of the Volkswagen Group and those defined in the Future of Spain: Fast Forward Allocation. The most vital assignments come with the electrification of SEAT’s plant in Pamplona, as well as Martorell, a new giga battery factory in Valencia. and the status quo of an entire ecosystem of suppliers. The national transfer is expected to have a positive effect on the Spanish economy with more than 21,000 million euros.
With this investment, SEAT aims to turn Martorell into a smart factory and show its workers the exciting new world of electric vehicle production. From 2025, SEAT aims to be an important production center for the Volkswagen Group and an essential component of the electric vehicle price chain in Spain. Wayne Griffiths, CEO of SEAT and Cupra, said:
For more than 30 years, SEAT S. A. It has created jobs and boosted business expansion in our country and there are still more plans for the future. Our ambition is to produce electric cars manufactured in Spain from 2025 and, as a component of this transformation, Martorell will also manufacture the Cupra UrbanRebel. Thanks to this project, maximum for our corporate, in the coming years, our workers and the factory will enter a new era.
Still, the UrbanRebel is rarely expected to arrive until 2025, so SEAT’s transition to EV production is going well. It’s unclear whether SEAT will inherit production of the Cupra Born from VW, but it would make more sense to stay in Germany with the ID. 3 and save production area for other smaller BEVs in the group.
Again, given that SEAT only has one electric vehicle for sale and does not manufacture it in Spain, we expect the automaker to continue production of its combustion cars at the Martorell plant. With the development of the call for all-electric models, SEAT’s electric vehicle The production footprint can continue to grow smoothly in Martorell and, in the end, absolutely usurp the production of combustion vehicles. Hope.