As suggested last July by Wayne Griffiths, chairman of Seat SA, Spanish company’s new brand Cupra is close to selling more than its own brand seats. In fact, in 2022, the numbers were extremely positive for Cupra as it closed the year selling 152,900 vehicles, a growth of 92.7% compared to 2021. These results are a an injection of optimism in the company’s shift towards Cupra as the main brand. Seat SA closed last year 18.1% less, selling 385,600 cars, which makes the Cupra nearly half of the company’s sales.
Cupra’s commercial offer, the star model Formentor, is Seat SA’s double targetMaintain a good sales ratio and get a better quality of revenue, as every car has a higher margin at Cupra than at Seat. Even so, the balance they have achieved from Seat as a brand is positive as 2022 is not the year of big launches and the crisis of microchip and other components has slowed deliveries.
Cupra Formentor almost a quarter of sales Seat SA’s with 97,600 units, representing 63.8% of Cupra deliveries. According to the markets, Germany stays first For the Spanish company, 105,300 vehicles were sold, 1.2% more than in 2021 (104,100). Of that number, 58,900 were Cupra models and the rest were Seat. Second by market is Spain, with 62,900 vehicles (23.1% less than in 2021), of which 13,600 are Cupras.
Seat drops 40.5%
If we were to analyze Seat alone, we find a 2022 where the brand’s sales are reduced by 40.5% compared to 2021 with 232,700 cars. Among all models, the Arona remained the brand’s best-selling model (71,000 units; -33.5% compared to 2021), followed by Ibiza (51,300; -46.4%) and Leon (41,500; -47.3%). . On a country basis, the Seat market is concentrated in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. sales fall in all scenarios due to lack of product handing over to underproduction caused by lack of material.
For Wayne Griffiths, “2022 was an unpredictable year, but we definitely made the most of it. Cupra continued to exceed expectations and cemented its position as Europe’s fastest growing auto brand. remarkable delivery figures It shows that demand for the brand and its electric vehicles is showing no signs of slowing down.”
The head of the Spanish company confirmed the profit margin theory, as “given the constant scarcity of semiconductors and components, we made the strategic decision to prioritize Cupra models with a higher margin than Seat vehicles. This inevitably affected Seat deliveries, but necessary to ensure long-term stability. to the company as a whole.
less production
As for production (including Audi A1 production), it remained at similar levels to 2021 with 478,954 cars produced. 1.1% decrease compared to the previous year (484,046). Production at Martorell fell 4.8% to 366,764 vehicles due to a lack of components.
Looking back on this year, the chairman of Seat and Cupra acknowledges that the market is more volatile than ever before. “The one thing that is certain is that nothing is certain, but we are committed, prioritizing the growth of Cupra and the electrification of Seat SA. face the challenges of the future and turn them into opportunities”.