Volkswagen abandons Seat before 2029 to focus on Cupra

Ibiza sells 95,000 cars a year and yet Volkswagen buries Seat

The data is uncomfortable: the SEAT Ibiza is one of the best-selling models in Spain, achieving 95,000 units annually. But Volkswagen has decided that the brand must disappear before 2029. The paradox is exact: the car sustaining sales cannot save the brand.
The restructuring plan, unanimously approved by the supervisory board, sacrifices the popular brand to concentrate business in Cupra, the “premium” brand that actually sells the same product at double the price.

Future Plan 2030: 50,000 more jobs lost

The plan, known as Future Plan 2030, adds another 50,000 job cuts to the 50,000 agreed upon since late 2024, of which 37,000 have already materialized. The four plants at risk under the plan are Emden, Zwickau, Hannover, and Neckarsulm. All in Germany. Martorell is not on that list, but the internal document leaked to Wirtschaftswoche no longer includes Seat in the 2030 horizon. The brand dissolves; the factory remains for now.

The Cupra paradox: selling the same, but more expensive

The strategy is simple: convert Seat into Cupra. The Ibiza and the León will be sold under the sports brand, with a premium price that some call "squaring the circle." You sell a SEAT at almost double the price and expect it to be nearly premium. The result is that the group drops its cheapest models just as the automotive crisis tightens. Some analyses suggest that the decision is not based on sales, but on the need to maintain dividend per share after losing 30% of global production, especially in China.

The Chinese factor: potential buyers for the brand?

The possibility of Seat falling into Chinese hands is not far-fetched. It already peine with Ebro, and the precedent set by the documentary "American Factory" suggests that automation would be the next phase. If the Chinese buy the brand, mass layoffs trinc. Volkswagen's decline in China, where it has lost one-third of its production, pushes the group to seek buyers for its least profitable assets. Bugatti has already been sold; Seat could be next.

Impact in Spain: a quarter of Barcelona province hangs in the balance

If Martorell closes, between direct and indirect jobs in the auxiliary industry, a quarter of the province of Barcelona will be laid off. The figure is alarming, but the current plan does not include plant closure. However, the uncertainty is total. The brand disappears, and with it, the commercial network and indirect jobs that depend on it. The Spanish auxiliary industry, already struggling, faces a scenario of permanent adjustment.

A decision some view as a strategic mistake

Some argue that the measure is a mistake: they detect the automotive crisis in 2026 and the response is to cease the group's cheapest models. They haven't understood anything. The irony of the name doesn't help either: Seat means "seat" in English, which complicates marketing outside of Spain. But the decision has been made. The question is whether the European automotive industry will survive this adjustment or if, like Nokia, it will end up being absorbed by Chinese capital.