SEAT has set new sales records as it approaches the final two months of the year. From January to October, the Spanish company delivered 498,700 vehicles worldwide – 11.1% more than in the same period last year (449,000).
In the UK, sales have increased by almost 10% (9.1%) so far in 2019 with a figure of 59,700 vehicles sold – bucking the current UK industry trend.
With this result, SEAT has sold close to 50,000 more cars and has broken the record set in 2018 from January to October.
Last month, SEAT sales showed the same strong upward trend seen in September with 43,900 vehicles sold, which is 31.3% more than last year (2018: 33,400). This growth is partially the result of the impact of the implementation of WLTP regulations in September 2018, which led to a sharp rise in sales shortly before, followed by a decrease in later months.
SEAT also concluded the best October in its history, exceeding the result achieved in 2017 (40,200).
SEAT Vice-president for Sales and Marketing and CUPRA CEO Wayne Griffiths said: “There are still two months left before the end of the year and SEAT has sold nearly 500,000 cars, a figure which has only been exceeded twice in the company’s 70-year history. We are about to close the year with a new sales record and achieve a volume that will give us a solid base from which to face the challenges of the coming year.â€
Griffiths added: “CUPRA* sales are growing strongly too and we have already delivered 20,600 vehicles, which is 78.9% more than from January to October 2018, thanks to the performance of the CUPRA Ateca.â€
SEAT’s global sales are making solid progress, mainly driven by the results in Germany, France and Italy. In Germany, SEAT delivered more cars from January to October (115,100; +17.4%) than in all of 2018 and has achieved the highest volume ever in the country. Moreover, France is the fourth largest market for SEAT car sales (31,300, +20.6%) followed by Italy, with 22,600 deliveries (+28.1%). SEAT also continues to grow in Spain in contrast to the rest of the industry with sales increasing by 1.7% (94,900 cars).
Other European countries showed outstanding sales growth above 20%, including Switzerland (11,000, +21.9%), the Netherlands (9,800, +26.8%), Sweden (7,600, +27.4%) and Denmark (6,300, +51.6%). As in Germany, SEAT also sold more cars in Switzerland than in all of 2018 and has posted the highest volume in history. In addition, the company has achieved significant increases in Mexico (20,300; +6.3%), Austria (18,300; +8.6%), Portugal (9,500; +11.6%) and Ireland (4,100; +11,3%).
SEAT’s operating profit at an all-time high
These record sales figures are translating into positive financial results assisted by the effect on the mix, mainly resulting from the greater commercialisation of SUVs, which accounted for 43% of SEAT deliveries from January to September 2019. According to the results published by the Volkswagen Group on 30 October, SEAT’s operating profit went up by 4.2% in this period for a total record result of 248 million euros (237 million from January to September 2018). Furthermore, turnover rose by 14%, reaching 8.828 billion euros (January to September 2018: 7.744 billion).
*Article Source http://www.seatpress.co.uk
