martorell

New Martorell Exhibition Center hosts scientific exhibitions with a strong social impact

Carmaker plans to launch new urban electric car in 2025 but does not specify where it would be made

Car manufacturer based in Catalonia worst hit in Volkswagen group

Monarch was met with widespread protests on last trips to Catalonia

Former head of sales has ambitions to make electric vehicle in Catalonia

Car manufacturer expects to start producing electric cars in Catalonia in five years

Automaker's factory near Barcelona made over half a million cars in 2019, a 5.4% increase over previous year

Italian executive Luca de Meo leaves top spot at Martorell-based automaker "at his own request"

The Catalan plant of the firm will lead the Volkswagen group's electric car platform

Production in the Catalan car manufacturer grows 12% in the first term of 2018

After eight years of losses, SEAT has pulled itself out of the red, earning €6 million in profits after taxes in 2015. This marks an end of a period of struggle with a record turnover of 8,332 million (up 11 percent on 2014), stated SEAT CEO Luca de Meo. He also hopes that the success in 2015 will help the company maintain its momentum as it pushes into 2016 with the manufacture of a new SUV vehicle as well as the release of three other car models over the next 18 months. Although the company has faced significant challenges in the face of a recovering auto industry, SEAT has seen increasing demand from southern Europe in Italy and Spain, as well as in Germany, where the company made 90,000 of their 400,000 car sales in 2015. 

Catalonia received more than 190 million euros from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, the most important initiative in the EU in terms of innovation and R&D. In the past year and a half, Catalan innovative companies and research projects received 2.6% of the total that the EC has given out so far, representing a higher figure  proportional to Catalonia’s population weight within Europe (1.5%).“Catalonia’s R&D system is one of the most productive and successful in Europe”stated general director of Recerca, Josep Maria Martorell, head of the entity which executes and promotes research and innovation initiatives in Catalonia. “During the first year of Horizon 2020, Catalonia has multiplied by 3.5 what was raised in the first year of the previous European funding programme, the FP7”he added. Most of the 142 companies which received Horizon 2020 funds were SMEs and this allowed them carry out feasibility analysis and be able to fund their R&D activities, so that their projects could be launched. The Horizon 2020 programme, launched last year, has an 80 billion euros budget until 2020.

SEAT President, Jürgen Stackmann, has shown "great optimism" for the future competitiveness of the company's plant in Martorell (Greater Barcelona). In early May, the Volkswagen group, to which SEAT belongs, announced it will invest €4.2 billion in two of its factories, those in Catalonia and Navarra, over the next four years. The investment will be used to upgrade the existing facilities and increase competitiveness, in order to assemble a greater number of models. However, it was not disclosed how this billionaire investment will be split among the two factories. During a conference held on Wednesday in Barcelona, Stackmann did not say how much of this investment would go toward the Catalan plant. The SEAT president said the company is changing its focus toward a more mature, adult market across Europe in order to cement the future success of the carmaker.