Wind the clock back a few years and Volkswagen Group’s Spanish subsidiary SEAT was teetering on the edge of extinction. Successive years of negative financial results suggested that changes had to be made. 2015 was full of them.
In February, the brand received the Top Employer award as one of the best companies to work for in Spain. In March, it struck a deal with Samsung, in which the companies pledged to co-develop connected car technologies. A variety of new models and concept cars were showcased at various motor shows, including the Ateca, SEAT’s first sports utility vehicle (SUV), as well as the new Ibiza, the Alhambra and the 20V20 – the company’s vision for the future embodied in a four-door SUV coupé.
The brand also recorded its highest turnover ever in 2015, with a 30% increase in EBIDTA and a rise in operating cash flow of nearly 50%. After-tax profit was €6m (US$6.8m) compared to a €66m loss in 2014. This, said the company, was the first time it has made a profit since 2008.
The company's Chief Executive, Luca de Meo, was appointed to the post in September 2015. In an interview with Automotive World, de Meo outlined the steps that the brand will take in order to maintain this momentum and ensure its growth is sustainable.
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