Fixing Seat is a good idea February 20, 2006
Eight years after Volkswagen group told Seat to become the Alfa Romeo of Spain, the brand is in trouble.
VW group tweaked its plan for Seat in 2003, when it made the Spanish marque part of the Audi brand group. Seat would boost its sportiness in the tradition of Alfa, but also be an entry-level brand to recruit young buyers to a later move up to Audi. It seemed like a plausible idea.
It has not worked. Seat’s annual sales tumbled 100,000 units to 420,000 between 2000 and 2005.
By the way, the brand Seat is supposed to emulate is in even deeper …