Seat posted the best results in its history in 2018 after increasing its operating profit by 33.4 per cent and reaching a record figure of €254 million. According to the results presented yesterday by the Volkswagen Group, Seat closed the year with €10.202 billion in turnover, which is 3.1 per cent more than in 2017 and the highest figure ever in the history of the company.
Seat’s operating profit was boosted by the sales record achieved in 2018, as well as the commercialising of models with a higher contribution margin. In 2018, Seat sold 517,600 vehicles, which is 10.5 per cent more than the previous year.
Seat president Luca de Meo said that: “Again, 2018 was a record setting year. Our financial situation has never been better thanks to sales figures that are a reflection of the trust placed in us by our customers. We completed the first cycle of the renovation of our portfolio with the launch of the Tarraco and soon will begin a second phase with the ambition of being major players in the fields of electrification, connectivity and shared mobility. At the same time, we are also facing challenges and uncertainties arising from emission reduction targets and the macroeconomic situation.”
Boosted by sales record in 2018
Furthermore, vice-president for finance, IT and organisation Holger Kintscher underscored that: “In 2018 Seat achieved the best operating profit ever and a triple-digit operating profit for the third year in a row. One of the factors contributing to this result is our strict cost-efficiency programme. We have to intensify these programme to invest in the company’s electrification and in reducing CO2.”
The Arona spurred Seat sales in 2018. In its first full marketing year, the brand delivered close to 100,000 units of its new urban SUV, which emerged as the brand’s third top-selling model. The Arona successfully joined the Ibiza, Leon and Ateca as one of the four pillars of the brand and contributed to Seat obtaining record sales figures in countries such as Germany, the UK, Austria, Switzerland, Israel and Morocco. Global sales continued their double-digit growth at the beginning of 2019, reaching a record volume of 88,900 vehicle deliveries, which is 12.8 per cent more than in the same period of 2018.
Furthermore, total production of Seat vehicles went up by 10.2 per cent in 2018 to stand at the record figure of 528,300 cars. In 2018, Seat built vehicles in Martorell, Kvasiny and Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic), Palmela (Portugal) and Bratislava (Slovakia), as well as Wolfsburg (Germany), where production began on the new SEAT Tarraco.