Seat improved international sales but sold 8.3% fewer cars in 2012 due to the crisis in Spain

Martorell (ACN).- Barcelona-based car manufacturer Seat, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, delivered 8.3% fewer cars in 2012 compared to the previous year, according to a press release issued on Monday by the group. In total, Seat sold 321,000 vehicles last year, while in 2011 it delivered a total of 350,000 units worldwide. The decrease is due to “the difficult market situation in Western Europe”, as the note stated. However, Seat’s poor results are mainly due to the overall drop in car sales in Spain due to the economic recession, as it is the brand’s main market as the traditional Spanish car brand. Despite the poor results in Spain, the Barcelona-based brand sold 22.5% more cars in Germany, increasing from 52,000 units in 2011 to 63,700 cars sold last year. In addition, Seat also improved its sales in two other key markets for its internationalisation strategy. Deliveries in the United Kingdom rose to 39,000 cars, increasing by 8.2% compared to the 36,100 vehicles sold in 2011. In Mexico, the Catalan car brand, which has its main factory in Martorell (Greater Barcelona), delivered 16.5% more cars, rising from 18,100 vehicles sold in 2011 to 21,100 units last year.

Regarding the overall figures of the entire Volkswagen Group, the German company sold 9.07 million cars worldwide last year, becoming the world’s third largest car manufacturer and making a new record for the group. This figure represents an 11.2% increase compared to the 2011 figures. Volkswagen had positive results in North America (+26.2%), South America (+8.2%), the Asia-Pacific region (+23.3%) and in Eastern and Central Europe (+17.6%). In some flagship countries, sales were particularly high compared to the previous year: the United States (+34.2%), Brazil (+10.7%), China (+24.5%) and Russia (+38.8%). However, Volkswagen’s sales fell in its main market: Southern Europe, dropping from 3.68 million cars to 3.67 million vehicles, which represents a 0.3% decrease. Besides, its sales also dropped in Western Europe – excluding Germany – decreasing from 1.98 vehicles to 1.85 million units, representing a 6.5% fall.