SEAT brand

 

With its new Altea Freetrack model, SEAT struck out in a new direction in fiscal year 2007. The first all-road vehicle in the history of the Spanish company has joined the sporty and design-oriented model range, a move that met with a positive reception from the market. A foretaste of the brand’s future emotional design line was given in fiscal year 2007 with the SEAT Tribu concept car. The recently constructed preproduction center at the Martorell plant will also play a key role in future product developments, as will the new SEAT Design Center.

 

In spite of a difficult market environment, 431 thousand vehicles were delivered to customers in 2007, which was slightly above last year’s level. SEAT recorded substantial growth rates on the French and UK markets, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. Demand increased in particular for the SEAT Leon and SEAT Altea XL models.

 

Although significant destocking took place in the dealer organization in fiscal year 2007, sales to SEAT brand dealers almost reached the level of the previous year.

 

The number of vehicles produced in fiscal year 2007 was 413 thousand units, 2.3% fewer than in the previous year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2007, sales revenue for the SEAT brand was on a level with the previous year at €5.9 billion. Following an operating loss of €159 million in 2006, an operating profit of €8 million was generated in fiscal year 2007. This saw the SEAT brand returning to profitability a year earlier than expected and in turn illustrates the success of the program introduced to improve earnings performance. The operating return on sales improved from -2.7% in 2006 to 0.1% in 2007. With the help of further performance enhancement measures, SEAT is aiming to deliver sustainable growth which, among other things, will increase unit sales and ROI substantially.