The pull of Cupra forces Seat to seek flexibility in production to meet demand. Surprise to everyone and everyone, the brand born six years ago maintains strong growth, over 21% in the first quarter after a 50% rebound in 2023. “Cupra grows more than it can produce. For the brand it is the best that can happen, we are not going to let customers wait six months,” Wayne Griffiths, CEO of Seat and Cupra, commented this Monday in Madrid. With that in mind, when the time comes, Cupra production will be prioritized over Seats in Martorell if the lines become tight, he admitted. Today, the plant works in three shifts, on three lines, “and not much more is possible.”
The issue is not minor because Cupra will continue to gain weight in 2024. This Monday the company presented in Madrid the new designs for the Formentor, today the best-selling of the entire group, and the León. Both will be manufactured in the Catalan facility. For them, a productive capacity of 200,000 units is estimated, and in 2023 almost 187,000 will have left Martorell between them. Interest will raise the pressure. “There will be more demand than supply,” the manager said at one point. Both Formentor and León will have all the current Cupra alternatives – combustion, plug-in hybrid, mild hybrid. “We have all the technologies, we are flexible to adapt to what the customer wants,” said Griffiths, who points out that combustion cars are still necessary in the mix. The arrival of the Tavascan (first 100% electric) is expected this year, after the summer, and the Terramar. The first will be manufactured in China and is said to already have strong customer interest. At the moment there are no concerns about possible measures from Brussels on vehicles brought from the Asian giant. For later, towards 2026, there is the Raval. The future is electric: “I can't imagine creating a new fuel car.”
With the current panorama, Griffiths assures that the occupation of Martorell – almost 7,000 direct jobs at the end of 2023 – is guaranteed until 2030, at which time he sees it necessary to add a second platform. The investment is around 1,000 million euros annually, a pace that is not intended to slow down. Despite this, as on previous occasions, Griffiths expressed his concern about the evolution of the Spanish market. With an eye on the transition to electric, “the figures are what they are. The market today in Spain is not taking off.” To solve it, he asked to “do something urgently” with the Moves plan, to support purchases, and focus on expanding the charging network. Thus, the exterior gains weight for the brand.
Griffiths does not lose sight of the Chinese push. Rather than licking wounds, he urged us to “see how we can be competitive not only with China, but with the US.” Tariffs may be a short-term solution, “but they will not solve your competitiveness problem.” Regarding Chery's arrival in Barcelona, he noted that “everything that is good for employment is good for the country.” The company took the opportunity to announce the creation of a Cupra subsidiary focused on design, which will bring together cars, merchandising and work with third parties. It is expected to start with a small group of workers, but "it will grow, we want to touch on design beyond the car." Fashion or architecture enter into those plans.
