SEAT continues to break records. After completing the best first quarter in its history, SEAT’s global sales are making steady headway and increased by 21% in April, for a total of 50,100 cars sold (2017: 41,400). With this volume, SEAT has achieved its best April figures, breaking the record of 45,100 vehicles set in 2000.
SEAT delivers 189,300 cars in the first 4 months of the year, up by 19.3%.
SEAT’s accumulated sales from January to April 2018 show record volumes, exceeding the highest figure ever reached, also posted in 2000 (181,300 vehicles). In total, the brand sold 189,300 cars worldwide, which is 19.3% more than in the same period of 2017 (158,700).
SEAT Vice-president for Sales and Marketing Wayne Griffiths pointed out that “in April we maintained a record sales volume. In Europe we are clearly expanding above the market trend, and our growth beyond Europe is even stronger thanks to the positive performance in Algeria. SEAT’s globalisation strategy is already delivering results. Likewise, we continue to innovate with new projects such as the eCommerce platform we have implemented to launch sales in Norway. This project will be used as an incubator to develop solutions for the rest of our markets”.
In the first four months of the year, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, together with Algeria, were the four fastest growing countries in vehicle sales compared to the same period in 2017. Spain, SEAT’s leading market, went up by 15.9% for a total of 39,200 cars sold, followed by Germany (35,300; +19.0%) and the United Kingdom (23,700; +13.8%). France and Italy, two strategic markets for SEAT, also grew steadily to reach 10,000 (+13.3%) and 8,400 vehicles (+17.5%), respectively. Austria (7,800; +23.7%), Switzerland (4,000; +18.0%), Belgium (3,900; +29.8%), Portugal (3,500; +29.0%) and the Netherlands (3,300; +45.0%) continued their strong upward trend.
Non-European sales grow by nearly 25% thanks to momentum in Northern Africa.
In Eastern Europe, SEAT sales soared by 22.8% until the end of April, with a total of 12,700 vehicles delivered, thanks to the momentum of countries such as the Czech Republic (3,100; +16.4%), Slovakia (1,800; +150.3%) and Slovenia (1,000; +26.7%). Outside Europe, growth was even higher, with SEAT posting a 24.8% increase for a total of 28,300 cars. The key to this rise was an upswing in sales in Algeria, where the 10,000 vehicles delivered is 10 times more than the figure for the same period in 2017, Morocco (900; +64.8%) and Tunisia (700; +19.2%).
Sales foster job creation and boost profits for SEAT
The commercial success of SEAT, and especially of the vehicles manufactured in the Martorell factory (Ibiza, Arona and Leon), will enable the company to hire 250 new recruits with an open-ended contract on June 1st, who will be joining the 265 new hires from January and February this year. At present, 2,300 vehicles are made every day in Martorell, equivalent to 95% of the plant’s maximum capacity.
From a financial standpoint, the increase in sales and the positive effect on the mix due to the launch of the new Arona raised SEAT’s operating profit to 85 million euros in the first quarter of 2018, which is 51.4% more than in the same period of 2017 (56 million euros). Furthermore, the company’s turnover rose to 2.782 billion euros, 11.8% more than in the first three months of last year (2017: 2.487 billion).