King Felipe VI of Spain Visits SEAT's Martorell Facilities as Part of the 30th Anniversary Festivities

King Felipe VI sees brand’s future models, meets distinguished group of names from Catalan business world

Head of State visits SEAT Design Center, ground-breaking facilities at Martorell plant

MARTORELL, SPAIN -- December 5, 2014: This morning His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain visited SEAT’s Martorell facilities. During the visit – the highlight of the events celebrating the 30th anniversary of the SEAT Ibiza – the King of Spain saw the models to be launched by the brand over the next five years, as well as the latest investments. His Majesty was accompanied by the Rt. Hon. Artur Mas, Catalan Government President; José Manuel Soria, Spanish Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism; Dr. Francisco Javier García Sanz, member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEAT; and Jürgen Stackmann, Chairman of the SEAT Executive Committee.

King Felipe VI visited the SEAT Design Center, unique facilities in Spain where technology and creativity merge to create the brand’s future models. The SEAT Design Center forms part of the Technical Center, home to 900 engineers, making the car multinational Spain’s number one industrial investor. There the King held a meeting with a group of distinguished names from the Catalan business world, together with the company’s senior management.

After this visit, King Felipe VI moved on to Assembly Workshop 10, where SEAT’s two pillars – the Leon and Ibiza (which this year exceeded the figure of 5 million cars sold since its launch in 1984) – are built. Here he was shown some of the latest technologies incorporated into this workshop, to increase the plant’s competitiveness and efficiency, such as ergonomics improvement systems, or automatically-guided vehicles for production line supply. Martorell is the highest-production car plant in Spain – 2,100 cars per day (one every 30 seconds), which are then distributed to 76 countries. More specifically, production this year has grown by 13%, enabling the hiring of more than 800 employees over the past few months. SEAT sales have also exceeded the 10% mark.

King Felipe VI held conversations with employees on the assembly line, including apprentices from first Class of SEAT’s Dual Vocational Training scheme, who joined the company on open-ended contracts on 1st July, and others who are currently studying their third and final academic year, joining SEAT next year.

His Majesty then visited two unique facilities in Spain’s automotive sector – the Prototype Development Center, the nexus between the areas of R&D and Production for the creation of future models, and the Meisterbock, where SEAT ensures the quality of its models during the launching and production stages. King Felipe VI was able to see the work at close hand, as well at the latest technologies used by the company to guarantee precision and perfection in all of its vehicles.

The visit came to an end at the facilities of the SPS (SEAT Production System) training centre, where employees are trained in different production skills. Here His Majesty King Felipe VI uncovered a plaque commemorating his visit.

The event was attended by 200 representatives from the world of institutions, politics, business and trade unions, who also obtained first-hand knowledge of some of the car manufacturer’s ground-breaking facilities.

SEAT is the only company in its sector with the full-range capacity to design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting more than 80% of its vehicles, and is present in more than 75 countries. In 2013 SEAT achieved a business volume of 6,473 million euros, the highest figure in its history, with worldwide sales of 355,000 units.

SEAT Group employs 14,000 professionals at its three production centres – Barcelona, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon, amongst other models. Additionally, the company produces the Alhambra in Palmela (Portugal), the Mii in Bratislava (Slovakia) and the Toledo in Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic).

The Spanish multinational also has a Technical Center, a ‘knowledge hub’, bringing together more than 900 engineers whose goal is to be the driving force behind innovation for the number one industrial investor in R&D in Spain. In line with its declared commitment to environmental protection, SEAT undertakes and bases its core activity on sustainability, namely reduction of CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, as well as recycling and re-use of resources.