The new Ibiza, just launched in Spain, marks the starting point of the company’s future, said president Erich Schmidt.
Between now and 2018, Seat will be launching two to three new vehicles every year as they move toward their long-term goal of doubling annual sales To do that, the company will enter new segments and new countries.
First up will be a D segment car to take on the Renault Laguna and Peugeot 407. That will be first seen at the end of the year and go on sale. It is based on the outgoing Audi A4 platform and will be built in Martorell, Spain.
Seat will also develop their own version of VW’s Up, and are close to making a decision on whether to put the Tribu concept, unveiled at the Frankfurt show in 2007, into production. This will be a rival to the Ford Kuga, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V and share many features with VW’s recently-launched Tiguan.
Doubling global sales will also mean expanding to new countries.
Seat recently launched in Mexico and are now close to making a move on South America. They are also studying Russia where they could synergise with VW, and are currently in talks over a possible go at China.