SEAT is celebrating its 60th birthday but far from being a pensioner, it continues to grow and develop.
SEAT’s 600 – put Spain on the road
(Photo: Wikimedia)
Established in May 1950 by the Spanish government’s INI development agency, Fiat and bank capital, it took three years to produce its first car – the SEAT 1400. But the company really took off with the SEAT 600, based loosely on Fiat’s 600. By 1973, SEAT had produced 800,000 of them, practically putting Spain on the road.
The millionth car milestone was reached in 1968, when a yellow SEAT 124 was handed over on a TV game show. By 1971, SEAT was Spain’s biggest industrial company and in 1974 was eighth biggest car company in Europe. Its success could be measured by how the Spanish embraced the brand. Of the 2.4 million vehicles on Spanish roads in the early 1970s, half wore the SEAT badge. SEAT’s success has always been based on design innovation, supported since 1975 on the Martorell Technical Centre near Barcelona, where the current production plant is also sited. From the technical centre, the first of SEAT’s own designs was the 1200 and 1430 Sport models – the original ‘bocanegra’ (black mouth) model nicknamed for its plastic headlamp surround and radiator grille.
Ronda – legally challenged (Photo: Wikimedia)
As it headed into the 1980s, SEAT’s progress continued but the accounts showed losses. The government and banks decided to sell off much of Fiat’s stake. Fiat’s involvement in SEAT ended in 1982 but not without a final legal tiff when SEAT launched the Ronda. Fiat claimed the car had ‘borrowed’ too much from its Ritmo. SEAT ended the dispute by presenting a Ronda with all SEAT-designed items painted yellow. The car was, to all intents and purposes, yellow.
SEAT was still losing money in the early 1980s but a budding relationship with Volkswagen Group was starting to bear fruit. The most symbolic success of SEAT’s early collaborations was the SEAT Ibiza – designed by Giugiaro and engined by Porsche in some models. It was feisty, fast, fun and symbolised the new spirit of Spain. In June 1986, representations by Volkswagen’s chairman, Dr Carl H. Hahn, to the socialist prime minister of Spain, Felipe González, bore fruit when Spain agreed to a privatisation and sold 51 per cent of SEAT to Volkswagen. The shareholding rose to 75 per cent by Christmas 1986.
Then the export business which SEAT so badly needed began to flow. By the end of the ‘80s SEAT was making almost 500,000 cars a year and, in 1990, Volkswagen bought the remaining SEAT shares.
The ‘90s dawned with a new factory at Martorell, sponsorship of the Barcelona Olympics, and the confidence to withdraw Volkswagen and Audi products from SEAT showrooms as SEAT developed cars for all the niches. The Alhambra was SEAT’s collaborative MPV and built in Portugal, the all-new Ibiza was launched, the Cordoba SX a two-door spin-off. And SEAT led the 2-litre class of the World Rally Championship.
In 1998, the two millionth Ibiza rolled off the production line and, as the decade closed, SEAT self-funded a 200 billion Peseta R&D investment. The new millennium dawned with SEAT’s Design Director, Walter da Silva, announcing the ‘dynamic line’ theme and a raft of redesigned models – SEAT had truly established the idea of Spanish ‘auto emoción.’
And SEAT went back into motorsport, fielding cars the European Touring Car Championship and, in 2008 and 2009, winning the World Touring Car Championship manufacturer and driver titles with a Leon TDI – a diesel out-performing petrol-powered rivals. SEAT has truly established itself, not as a Volkswagen subsidiary, but as a Spanish car maker with Spanish ideals.
WTC SEAT Leon TDI – driven with emotion
New Alhambra – designed with emotion
