- SEAT S.A.’s operating profit in 2023 reached a record 625 million euros, with 14.3 billion euros in turnover and a return on sales of 4.4%.
- SEAT plans to introduce facelifted Ibiza and Arona models, as well as refreshed versions of Leon and Ateca.
- In 2024, CUPRA Tavascan and Terramar models will be introduced to the market. This is the biggest product offensive of the brand to date.
- CUPRA also announces the continuation of its global expansion: by 2030, the brand will enter the American market.
SEAT S.A. presented its results for 2023 and the strategy for the coming years at its annual global press conference. Last year, the SEAT S.A. group achieved a record operating profit of 625 million euros – an increase of 592 million euros compared to 2022 (33 million euros in 2022). This result means an improvement in the company’s sales profitability by 4.1 percentage points (from 0.3% to 4.4%). Annual turnover reached a historic level of 14.333 billion euros – an increase of 31% compared to 2022 (10.941 billion euros). These results confirm the company’s strong position in the industry.
“Last year, SEAT S.A. reported the best financial results in its 73-year history. We have a plan to continue to incrementally increase our revenues,” admits Wayne Griffiths, CEO of SEAT and CUPRA brands.
2023: A year that underscored SEAT S.A.’s strength
After recent years full of difficulties and challenges, including rising raw material costs, inflation and war effects, last year’s supply chain stabilization resulted in production and delivery growth. This allowed SEAT S.A. to deliver a total of 519,176 cars, representing a 35.3% increase over the previous year (2022: 385,592 vehicles). CUPRA once again achieved a record number of deliveries – 230,739 vehicles were delivered, representing a 50.9% increase compared to the previous year (2022: 152,896). The SEAT brand delivered 288,437 vehicles, returning to double-digit growth figures (2022: 232,696 cars, growth of 24.0%).
“In 2023, we achieved all-time records in turnover, operating profit, and cash flow. This perfectly reflects the positive impact of volume growth from the CUPRA brand and the recovery in volume from the SEAT brand, as well as the importance of the progress we have made within our Performance Improvement Program,” said David Powels, Vice President of Finance and IT at SEAT S.A.
Investments in SEAT Brand
The SEAT brand will play a key role in maintaining the profitability of SEAT S.A. SEAT plans to introduce plug-in hybrid and low fuel consumption cars across the entire SEAT brand by the end of the production of combustion engine cars. The Arona and Ibiza models will be facelifted in 2025, while the brand will introduce a new version of the SEAT Leon in the coming months. The Ateca model will also be refreshed.
“We want to restore the shine of the SEAT brand. We plan to maintain last year’s double-digit growth through new investments and refreshing our model range. We are also evaluating the brand’s opportunities in connection with the upcoming era of electrification. I assure you, the best is yet to come,” says Wayne Griffiths.
A New Chapter for CUPRA Brand
2024 marks the beginning of the biggest product offensive of the brand to date. This year will see the launch of CUPRA Tavascan, the brand’s second fully electric model, and CUPRA Terramar, the Barcelona-based manufacturer’s hybrid SUV. CUPRA has also announced new versions of their flagship models Leon and Formentor, which are set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.
CUPRA also confirmed a major step in its global expansion – the introduction of the brand to the American market by 2030. This year, the manufacturer also plans to open additional CUPRA City Garage points in Istanbul, Vienna and Manchester.
“By the end of this decade, we will enter the American market with the CUPRA brand, where we will initially introduce the Formentor in a BEV version and a larger electric SUV. Car production will take place in Volkswagen Group factories located in North America, including Mexico. Our entry into the United States will come through a new distribution model,” announces Wayne Griffiths.
Martorell Plant’s Steps Towards Electrification
As part of the Future: Fast Forward project, SEAT S.A. is implementing measures aimed at transforming Spain into a European center for electric mobility. The strategy includes the establishment of a battery system assembly plant in Martorell and the transformation of the production line at the factories in September, ahead of the start of production of the CUPRA Raval and Volkswagen ID.2aII models.
The return of the SEAT brand to double-digit growth results, the upcoming premieres of refreshed CUPRA Leon and Formentor models as well as completely new CUPRA Tavascan and Terramar models, herald another breakthrough year in the company’s history.
