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 trouble. Alfa has lost money for years and its sales have plunged the last four years to 139,000 from more than 200,000.
Some recent Seat product moves make sense. Reentering the minicar market with an Arosa replacement is a return to Seat’s roots and should help restore some sales volume as well.
Other moves, such as giving Seat a quick product boost with a derivative of the VW Caddy, are more puzzling. Can Seat really sell a thinly disguised light commercial vehicle next to the stylish and sporty Leon and Altea without diluting the sporty image it is trying to create?
Similarly, Seat dealers want a big minivan to sell. But if the replacement for the Seat Alhambra is not more distinct from the VW Sharan than the current model, Seat’s image again will suffer.
There is still the issue of how Seat is supposed to fill the 500,000-unit capacity of its Martorell plant.
VW wants Seat to alter its image, boost sales and make profits. To achieve that goal, it must give Seat the tools to do the job. Without distinctive and sporty products, the Seat plan cannot succeed.
- Posted in : Uncategorized, Seat
- Author : Bullet
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