SEAT sales continued to go up in August. The effect of the WLTP procedure, which led to a sharp rise in registrations in Europe in August of 2018 and a decrease in the same month this year, did not hamper a new monthly record for SEAT. In August, company deliveries amounted to 42,100 cars, which is 2% more than in the same month the previous year (41,200) and 41.6% higher than the figure recorded in August 2017 (29,700).
SEAT’s 2019 year-to-date figure amounts to 411,600 vehicles delivered, 7.2% higher than last year (January-August 2018: 384,000). With this result, the carmaker broke the record posted in the same period in 2018.
CUPRA sales also continued their upward trend and rose by 70.6% from January to August to a total of 17,100 vehicles. With just four months left until the end of the year, the new brand has already greatly exceeded its sales figure recorded for all of 2018 (14,400 units).
SEAT Vice-president for Sales and Marketing and CUPRA CEO Wayne Griffiths underscored that “the August result continues the performance we have been setting in Europe in 2019: despite a difficult environment, we are increasing sales and gaining market share throughout the year. We trust our results will continue to improve and we will sustain this growth in the remainder of the year.”
SEAT’s global sales rose from January to August, mainly driven by the results in Germany, France and Italy. Germany (94,800 vehicles; +14.1%), Spain (80,000; +1.2%) and the UK (46,800; +3.5%) are still the leading markets in terms of volume. In Germany and the UK, SEAT obtained the best historic sales results until August, and in Spain it was the top-selling brand and widened the gap compared to its competitors. France and Italy complete the list of top 5 markets, with an increase of 14.9% (24,800 vehicles) and 20.7% (18,400), respectively.
SEAT’s sustained double-digit growth in Switzerland (8,800 cars; +10.9%), the Netherlands (8,300 cars; +31.2%), Sweden (6,300; +21.8%) and Denmark (5.200; +45.2%), and achieved above market average results in Austria (15,900; +2.7%), Portugal (7,900; +6.8%) and Ireland (3,900; +9.7%). SEAT sales went up in Mexico (16,500; +6.5%) amidst a general decrease in registrations, reaching the highest volume ever from January to August.
The Frankfurt Motor Show, more electric than ever
SEAT will be participating at the Frankfurt Motor Show starting on Tuesday, 10 September with a clear commitment to electric mobility. Following the announcement of the Mii electric and the el-Born, SEAT’s first two fully electric models, CUPRA is going to present the new Tavascan concept car, the brand’s first wholly electric vehicle. In addition, the company is going to present the new SEAT Tarraco PHEV, the brand’s first plug-in hybrid electric SUV.