Seat Boosts Presence In North America As International Sales Soar

MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM – May 24, 2013: Seat has officially launched the new Leon in Mexico, a move that will strengthen the Spanish brand’s strategy for international growth and profitability.

The market introduction of the car, in June, will consolidate Seat among the ten best-selling brands in the North American country, after growing 60% over the past two years.

SEAT has already grown by 8.5% in Mexico during the first four months of 2013, having registered 7,360 vehicles – making it the ninth best-selling brand in the country.

In 2010, Seat recorded a share of 1.7% in passenger car retail sales in Mexico, selling 13,380 units. That number grew to 18,115 in 2011, and rose further to 21,114 last year, showing a pattern of consistent growth for the brand in the vital territory that is set to continue. Seat has a network of fifty dealerships in the country, which will increase over the next few months.

These numbers make Mexico Seat’s sixth most important market, and the second most important outside Europe, after Algeria. For the sector as a whole, Mexico is the world’s fifteenth most important automotive market, and the third most important in the Americas, behind the US and Brazil. In 2012, Mexican car sales were close on the one million mark.

The success of the Ibiza in Mexico is unprecedented, and Seat wants to repeat that success with the new Leon, more than 25,000 units of which have been sold in Europe in less than six months.

The five-door Leon will go on sale in Mexico in June, with the SC following towards the end of 2013. Both models will be built at the Barcelona Martorell production plant. In Mexico, SEAT currently exports the three- and five-door versions of the Ibiza, the Altea XL and Altea Freetrack, the new Toledo and, to date, the second-generation Leon.

“We are delighted at the way the brand has been moving,” says Edgar Estrada, head of Seat in Mexico. “We are confident that the strength of the new Leon will help us continue to grow in Mexico. Our commercial offer is renewed with the Leon, which enables enjoyment of the latest technology and offers great value for money,” he adds.

Seat sales grow 20.5% in April
Seat exports 83% of its total car production and is present in 77 countries – a fact that enabled it to grow worldwide by 11.5% between January and April 2013, compared with the same period last year. In April SEAT sold 30,058 vehicles globally, 20.5% more than in the same month in 2012.

In Germany, the company’s main market, Seat sales have grown by 30.6% so far this year, reaching a figure of 23,702 vehicles. In Spain the brand has delivered 22,356 vehicles (+10.7%), with another 14,784 in the UK (+9.0%). The company has also seen strong growth outside Europe during the same period, with 7,822 vehicles sold in Algeria (+137.6%), 2,126 in Turkey (+111.1%), and 1,217 in Russia (+310.5%).

Seat UK enjoys record-breaking April
Seat UK registered 3,983 sales in April – more than in any other April in the history of the company, and a 33% improvement on the same month in 2012. This number eclipses the 14.8% overall UK market growth in April.

Within those sales, Seat doubled its corporate and retail order take compared to April 2012, which is a strong indicator that SEAT’s range has more showroom appeal than ever.

April’s sales total means that Seat is currently on course for a record-breaking market share in 2013, significantly higher than the record 1.9% it achieved in 2012.