Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 29

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

TALK FROM THE TOP

where we are leading VW Group's efforts
in Algeria, starting with the new Ibiza,
which was laucnhed in the second half.
Why did Seat decide to develop electric vehicles after previously saying
it wouldn't?
When I arrived, EVs were not considered
to be relevant to Seat. Now adding them
is a task the brand must tackle because
of tougher forthcoming EU emissions rules
and the declining sales of diesels. Selling
EVs provides an immediate benefit toward
reducing CO2 emissions from your newcar fleet. That benefit is more significant
to the entire range than what you would
get from launching partially electrified cars
such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
When you debut Seat's first EV in
2019 which type of car will it be?
It will be based on a traditional platform,
either the Mii minicar replacement or the
next Leon compact. We will also use this
first EV as a test bench to understand how
to sell and service an electric car. In addition, we are talking with VW Group about
whether Seat could get a model from the
group's MEB EV architecture. This car
would come in the first half of the next
decade. That being said, we must be extremely cautious. Affordability is a must
for our customers and an EV powertrain
is still considerably more expensive than
an internal combustion engine.
Seat will launch a midsize SUV by the
end of next year, a project that did
not exist a year ago. What changed?
Seat was fighting to find a solution for
a while. The idea of a midsize SUV had
been discussed for a long time because
such a vehicle would have had a significant impact on our profitability. When I
got here in late 2014 we had the 20V20
concept, but there was no business plan
or production plan for the model. I was
convinced that to move Seat to the next
level a midsize SUV would be much more
profitable than a midsize sedan. When
we made our pitch to get the model our
proposal was like something you would
see from an ad agency. Our message
was: 'You cannot prevent us from doing
this because it is just too good'." The
next step was to find a plant. We looked
at Mexico, but VW told us it had capacity constraints there. It was the same
problem at Skoda in the Czech Republic, where they were short of capacity
for their Kodiaq and our Ateca SUVs.
Then someone suggested that we build
it in Wolfsburg. The design of the SUV

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also really helped get us approval from
the group. Now we are rushing to launch
it within 18 to 20 months. We hope to
have it on the market by late 2018.
Is this midsize SUV the first new Seat
born during your tenure?
Yes, but architecture-wise my input was
limited because to save on tooling costs
and reduce time-to-market, we had to
keep all the hard points of the VW Tiguan. I had more input on the next Leon
[compact that is due in 2019]. That car
will mark a strong change in our design
language, being more emotional and
sexy on the outside, but even more innovative inside. Our current interiors are
very rational and logical. The new Leon
interior will really make a leap forward,
as well as introduce some innovations
on architectures and body styles.
Which body styles?
As we did with the new Ibiza, we could
consider ditching the three-door because volumes are fading for everyone.
We will probably keep the five-door hatch
and the wagon, but we'll give them more
dynamic and emotional body styles.
With the Ibiza, Seat was the first brand
to use VW Group's new A0 architecture. The VW Polo will come second.
Did Seat engineer the architecture?
No, the Polo was made by VW. But, with
help from some people from Audi here in
Martorell [Seat's headquarters in Spain
where it has its main car factory] we are
engineering the next Audi A1, which is
based on the A0 and will be built here.
When you led Lancia, you derived
the Musa from the existing Fiat Idea
small minivan for a mere 120-million-euro investment. Were you able

to deliver something similar with the
Arona small crossover that uses the
MQB-AO platform?
We were very smart to obtain a new body
style with a limited investment [to create
the Arona] that was in the region of what
you mentioned. Seat is extremely efficient
with its r&d budget. Not only because we
have never had so many new projects going on at once, but also because I continually get calls from other VW Group companies asking us to engineer vehicles for
them. We are recognized for being quick
and highly cost effective.
The initial production plan for the Ateca called for 60,000 units this year.
Is it true that won't be enough to
meet current demand?
We could probably sell twice as many and,
as soon as demand surpassed our expectations, we asked the factory to make
more. But it is hard to cope when demand
is double what was planned. This is not
so uncommon when you enter a new segment because you lack an existing car
parc. We faced the same problem at Audi
with the Q3. When I was in Ingolstadt, we
planned 70,000 units a year, but production last year reached 140,000, which
by the way is great news for Seat, as we
build the Q3 here in Martorell.
How high is the margin that Seat gets
from Audi on the Q3?
It is a decent margin, but as a rule in the
group, it is a fixed percentage of production costs. The policy is to keep a
level playing field on the industrial side
and leave the brands free to make as
much money as they can on the commercial side. ANE

Seat boss Luca de Meo says the demand for the new Ateca is double what
the automaker expected.

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