SEAT

History

SEAT was founded on 9 May 1950 by the state holding company INI, Spanish banks and Fiat, with the job of putting Spain on wheels. From 1957 the SEAT 600 made the car affordable for families and became a symbol of the Spanish boom. The Fiat partnership ended in 1982, Volkswagen bought in from 1986 and took full ownership in 1990. The Martorell plant started work in 1993, and in 2018 CUPRA was spun out as a brand in its own right.

EV strategy

The last electric car to wear a SEAT badge was the Mii electric, dropped in 2021; since then sister brand CUPRA has carried the group's electrification. As a company, SEAT is still at the centre of it: SEAT S.A. leads the Volkswagen Group's family of small electric cars, whose series production started at Martorell in June 2026.

Good to know

• SEAT stands for Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo.
• For many Spanish families the SEAT 600 was the first car they ever owned.
• SEAT S.A. is the company, SEAT and CUPRA are its two brands, and both are based in Martorell.