Posted on Thursday 19 October 2006
Volkswagen won’t be dropping its SEAT unit anytime soon, despite the poor financial results from the Spanish car maker. Part of the reason is the difficult VW would endure in acquiring an actual buyer. CEO of VW, Bernd Pischetsrieder, was even quoted as stating that he doesn’t believe that there would be a buyer for SEAT. In the end VW may even be forced to drop the brand from its line-up.
Pischetsrieder, who headed SEAT before taking the reigns for the entire group, is confident that the company could become successful again with the introduction of several new models including the new extended Altea people mover and a possible replacement for the imported VW Fox.
VW lacks a decent entry-level model that could compete against the likes of the Renault Twingo and Ford Ka, and this is a gap that SEAT could fill. Unfortunately, VW is already looking towards China for its next opportunity in this arena.