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134-635: The "Marbella" badge was first used for the 1983 model year, on a luxurious version of the SEAT Panda. After a second, more thorough restyling in December 1986, it received the SEAT Marbella nameplate (codenamed 28 for SEAT Marbella and 028A for SEAT Marbella box) and was produced by SEAT until 1998 in the company's Zona Franca plant in Spain . The end of Marbella production in 1998 also meant

268-650: A Giugiaro -styled hatchback, which made use of System Porsche engines and also featured underpinnings from the Fiat Ritmo/Strada , in 1984. It also formed the basis of the Málaga , a four-door family saloon. SEAT began expanding into markets beyond Spain's borders, including the United Kingdom, where it began selling cars in the autumn of 1985. On June 18, 1986, after purchasing the 51% majority stake of SEAT and its share increased to 75% on December 23 of

402-579: A Polo WRC in some of the WRC-rallies in 2013, but stated he was available for testing, if needed. Sainz returned to competing in 2012, as he entered a historic rally with his old co-driver Luis Moya in Spain. The pair competed in a Porsche 911 rally car and won the rally. The pair made a return to historic rallies in March 2013 by winning Rally de España Histórico with a Porsche 911. In November 2020, it

536-535: A SEAT model being sold as a Volkswagen in Canada and the United States to supplement Volkswagen's brand lineup there have occasionally circulated, but have always been unsubstantiated, and ultimately proven to be false. In the past, other market areas where the brand was also present for a short time were Australia and New Zealand (from 1995 to 1999) and South Africa (from June 2006 to the end of 2008). Still,

670-761: A controlling 51% to 32%. The six major Spanish banks took the remaining 32%, which decreased from their previous 42% share split equally into 7% parts owned by every single one. Although not a majority owner, Fiat now was seen to control the business: the deal also included various undertakings by Fiat to help in the growth of SEAT, and with the development of a new model (possibly the SEAT 133 ). On December 6, 1967, SEAT also founded its own customer financing company 'Financiera SEAT, S.A.' (Fiseat). To produce its own research projects independently, on November 16, 1970, SEAT came in accordance with Fiat to start building separate infrastructures aimed at developing new technologies. In 1972,

804-497: A deal over the renegotiation of its license contract with Fiat that allowed the Spanish firm to form an international distribution network for its cars and thereafter start its export operations to more than 12 countries, entering the export market in 1969. Until the early 1980s, however, most SEAT exports were sold with Fiat badging. As a response to SEAT's bid for independence, Fiat committed themselves to sell 200,000 SEAT-built cars

938-577: A development driver played a vital role in developing the then-new Impreza to the point where it could mount a sustained challenge to Toyota and Ford. Indeed, in the hands of Sainz and Colin McRae the Subarus were frequently faster than the Fords during the season. Toyota won the manufacturers' title, but the drivers' championship was only settled on the final round, with Didier Auriol winning ahead of Sainz. In

1072-524: A grab handle in front so that the Pope could stand still to greet the crowds, while the vehicle was in motion. In that car the Pope entered the FC Barcelona Camp Nou soccer stadium driving through the assembled crowds celebrating mass for a congregation of over 121,000 on 17 November 1982. The Spanish company Emelba produced several derivative models from the SEAT Panda among others: In

1206-473: A leading role in the future as soon as the company was privatized. Partner carmaker Fiat was offered a 7% share in exchange for its technical assistance. This way, SEAT would not only be able to reinitiate the country's economic recovery as the largest employer in the 1960s and '70s but would also contribute to the industrialisation of a largely rural economy. Though initial thoughts were of locating in less-developed inland cities such as Valladolid and Burgos ,

1340-574: A lower car tax rate. In 1977, SEAT's leasing company Liseat was founded. In 1979, the Gearbox del Prat facility was set up as a specialised plant for producing gearboxes, gear mechanisms, and differentials in El Prat del Llobregat near Barcelona. In the early 1980s, extensive discussions concerning funding and control took place between SEAT's major shareholder, the Spanish government, and Fiat Automobiles; SEAT needed major capital investment, which Fiat

1474-646: A majority stake, Spanish private banks, and Fiat . After being listed as an independent automaker for 36 years, the Spanish government sold SEAT to the Volkswagen Group in 1986, and it remains a fully owned subsidiary of the Group. The headquarters of SEAT S.A. is situated in Martorell , near Barcelona , at the company’s industrial complex. Over 468,000 units were produced in 2020 with more than 427,000 cars exported to over 75 countries worldwide. Spain

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1608-468: A more powerful SEAT Panda Abarth version was also on offer, sold in Spain by a company called Apicsa. Shortly after introduction, a smaller-hearted version corresponding to the Italian two-cylinder model was added. Called the "Panda 35", it had a smaller 843 cc version of the engine, a development of the engine originally fitted to the SEAT 850 beginning in the mid-sixties. To set it further apart from

1742-709: A new main assembly facility next to the technical centre in Martorell, replacing the old one in Zona Franca. In that same year, the translocation of SEAT's Madrid administration offices to Barcelona began with the sale of two of the brand's assets in La Castellana to be completed in 1991 with the definitive installation of SEAT's headquarters in the Catalonia region. The centralisation of the management, design, research and production facilities localized around

1876-483: A record six wins during the season, by three points. Sainz's victory ahead of Ari Vatanen and Kankkunen, combined with Auriol's retirement, confirmed the title in favour of the Spaniard. A limited number of 440 Celica GT-Four ST185s, carrying his name on a plaque in the vehicle, and with decals on the outside, were sold in the United Kingdom in 1992 in an attempt to capitalise on Sainz's two championship successes with

2010-682: A resurgent Lancia-mounted Kankkunen, his efforts capped by a dramatic roll of his Celica in Australia which left him in a neckbrace. Both Sainz and Kankkunen took five wins, the first time in the history of the WRC that two drivers had managed such a win tally during one season. Sainz led Kankkunen by one point going into the final round of the season, the RAC Rally, where Kankkunen took his third title by winning ahead of Kenneth Eriksson and Sainz. Kankkunen's and Sainz's point totals, 150 and 143, both broke

2144-580: A strong partner for SEAT. Hahn's interest soon resulted in industrial and commercial cooperation, as well as a license agreement with SEAT on September 30, 1982, for the production in Spain of the Volkswagen Passat - Santana and Polo-Derby models in SEAT's Zona Franca and Landaben factories, respectively – having thus as an effect on April 29, 1983, the ending of the SEAT Panda 's production at

2278-530: A three-door city hatchback, was launched in 1997, effectively replacing the Marbella, SEAT's version of the Fiat Panda , which had been in production since the early 1980s. On April 7, 1998, the Zona Franca plant marked the end of the production lifecycle of the Marbella model, signalling a historical moment for SEAT with the end of vehicle production in SEAT's oldest factory, which opened in 1953; ever since

2412-471: A total of eight podiums, but no wins, and finished fifth in the drivers' standings, behind his third-placed teammate Auriol who had taken his only win of the season at the inaugural China Rally . This was the precursor of another, three-year stint with Ford, again alongside McRae, beginning with the 2000 season . He won the inaugural edition of the Cyprus round of the world championship, and finished third in

2546-623: A triple win as the team's second young Briton, Richard Burns , finished third. Sainz was later to join McRae at both Ford and Citroën. Sainz was supposed to return to Toyota for 1996 season , however the Toyota Team Europe was banned for the season following the cheating scandal surrounding the Celica 's turbo restrictor. Instead Sainz decided to join the factory Ford , bringing the Repsol sponsorship with him. He spent two seasons with

2680-489: A wholly localized production. In that year, an agreement between Fiat and the Spanish Ministry of Industry was reached to end the restrictions over exporting SEAT cars from Spain, a term of the original licensee contract agreed with Fiat in 1948. In exchange for that, Fiat would increase its holding in the company from 7% to 36%. At the same time, the share held by the government holding agency would be reduced from

2814-538: A year from 1981, compared to 120,000 the year before. At the end of 1983, just after SEAT had won its legal battle with Fiat, a quarter of the production went to Egypt and Latin America. In Europe, they were represented in West Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, and Greece. The UK, Ireland, and various Scandinavian markets were planned to be added in 1984. This was despite the company only being able to export

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2948-510: Is SEAT's thematic pavilion, one of the largest pavilions in the park. In its more-than-70 year history, it was only during the period from 1953 to 1965 that the firm produced cars exclusively for the domestic Spanish market. In 1965, in a rather symbolic move, the company exported some 150 units of its SEAT 600 model (licensed version of the Fiat 600) destined for Colombia by air freight for the first time, until two years later, in 1967, SEAT reached

3082-739: Is also a professional racing driver, currently competing for Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One . He also has an older brother named Antonio Sainz , born on 10 December 1957, who was also a rally driver. Sainz was born in Madrid . Before moving into motorsport, he played football and squash. As a teenager, Real Madrid gave him a trial and in squash he was the Spanish champion at the age of 16. He got his first touch of motorsport in Formula Ford while still playing squash and football. Before dedicating himself to motorsport, Sainz studied law up to

3216-531: Is reflected in the announcement in August 1976 that SEAT would commence local production of the Lancia Beta . Three years later, Beta production by SEAT indeed commenced at the company's recently acquired Pamplona plant, though only the coupe and HPE lift-back versions were included. The Spanish cars were fitted with a simplified suspension system and smaller engines than their Italian counterparts to qualify for

3350-490: Is shown in the following table: SEAT SEAT S.A. ( English: / ˈ s eɪ ɑː t / ; Spanish: [ˈseat] ; from Spanish Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo , lit.   ' Spanish Passenger Car Company ' ) is a Spanish car manufacturer that sells its vehicles under the SEAT and Cupra brands. Founded on May 9, 1950, it was created as a joint venture between Spain's government-owned Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), which held

3484-491: Is the world's eighth-largest manufacturer of automobiles. Its car market stands among the largest in Europe. This, however, has not always been the case; in the first half of the 20th century, Spain's economy was relatively underdeveloped compared to most other Western European countries and had a limited automobile market. In this period, car production was limited, with only a few low-volume local manufacturers catering mainly to

3618-852: The 1995 season , he won the Monte Carlo Rally , the Rally Portugal and the Rally Catalunya . At this latter event he was trailing his teammate Colin McRae until the team ordered the Scotsman to slow down and allow Sainz to win, which led to a dispute between the drivers. Nevertheless, they were tied for the lead in the drivers' world championship going into the season-ending RAC Rally . McRae won his home event 36 seconds ahead of Sainz, despite losing time with mechanical difficulties that at one stage had put him two minutes behind. Subaru secured their first manufacturers' title with

3752-504: The 2004 season, and scored his final world rally victory at the 2004 Rally Argentina . During the Rally Catalonia 2004 , after announcing his retirement, Sainz was considered by drivers, codrivers and directors of the official teams, as the best rally driver of history. In the championship, Sainz finished fourth, after missing out the final rally in Australia, due an accident during pre-event recce. Despite formally retiring at

3886-624: The 2024 season , Ekström moved to McLaren XE and was replaced by Fraser McConnell . On 6 September, a week before the scheduled Island X-Prix, Extreme E announced that the rounds in Sardinia and Phoenix were cancelled. (Races in bold indicate best qualifiers; races in italics indicate fastest super sector) NOTE: Following the 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania , the Amaury Sport Organisation moved

4020-666: The Acropolis Rally , at the Rally New Zealand , at the 1000 Lakes Rally , as the first non- Nordic driver, and at the RAC Rally , claiming his first world drivers' title , ahead of Lancia 's Didier Auriol and Kankkunen, ending the Italian marque's domination of the drivers' world championship since the advent of the Group A era of the sport in 1987 . In 1991 , Sainz narrowly failed to defend his title against

4154-540: The Acropolis Rally . He finished second on the San Remo Rally , but he and his teammate were later disqualified for using illegal fuel. He finished eighth in the drivers' championship, which was won by Toyota driver Juha Kankkunen . Lancia withdrew from the sport altogether at the end of the season. Sainz then chose to drive for the then fledgling Subaru World Rally Team in 1994 , where he replaced Ari Vatanen . Sainz's experience, perfectionism and abilities as

SEAT Marbella - Misplaced Pages Continue

4288-695: The Audi A1 , the Audi A3 Sportback, the Audi Q5 , etc.) and also several Audi development projects took place there. This plant is an industry benchmark, as it features elements such as the virtual simulation of the PXL press, 3D printing in the maintenance workshop, the automatic shifting between sealing tips of the robots in the body shop, and the automation of the logistics flow through automated guided vehicles. The Barcelona Zona Franca site includes

4422-515: The Biscúter , which seemed to suit better the unwealthy customers looking for a personal means of transport in a suffering economy. Until the time SEAT had the technical maturity and expertise to present its first self-developed model, the SEAT 1200 Sport in 1975, in its beginnings, the company had to manufacture either rebadged or restyled models borrowed from the range of its Italian partner Fiat Automobiles or even redeveloped them according to

4556-642: The Desert X-Prix – in Round 1, the team qualified the fastest, achieved a super sector and finished the race in second place. In Round 2, the team won their first race in Extreme E. The team won its second race in Round 7 at the Island X-Prix II. At the final two rounds of the season, the team finished in second and suffered a DNF respectively, losing the championship to RXR by 11 points. For

4690-547: The European Economic Community since 1977. The end of the cooperation with the Italian firm was marked by a change in SEAT's logo in 1982, and the first car under the new SEAT logo without Fiat's involvement appeared in the same year, the SEAT Ronda , styled by Rayton Fissore in collaboration with the technical centre in Martorell. The launch of this model sparked a lawsuit from Fiat against SEAT, as

4824-827: The FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup with the Volkswagen team. In 2008, he won the Central Europe Rally , which was the relocated and rescheduled Dakar Rally for that year because of a terrorist attack. In January 2009, partnering again with Perin, he led the Dakar Rally until crashing out on the 12th stage. Later in 2009 Sainz won Silk Way Rally with Volkswagen team. At the 2010 Dakar Rally , Sainz changed again co-pilot, teaming with fellow Spaniard Lucas Cruz . Sainz edged out teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah to take his maiden win in

4958-777: The Marbella in its range, but this model never made it through to production. The first time a SEAT model was manufactured out of Spain was in 1996, with the production of the SEAT Alhambra Mk1 in the Palmela AutoEuropa plant in Portugal . Also, in January 1997, a non-Spanish descendant, the Belgian Pierre-Alain de Smedt, was appointed SEAT's chairman for the first time. The SEAT Arosa ,

5092-586: The Ronda , with the Fura to follow. The exponential growth in exports in the '70s happened under the leadership of Juan Sánchez Cortés and the export director José María García-Courel. To date, the company has launched its models in more than 70 countries worldwide in accordance with the development policies of the Volkswagen Group, with almost three-quarters of its annual production representing exports for

5226-543: The Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Car demand collapsed not only due to the greatly reduced purchasing power of Spaniards caused by war devastation but also because the multinational subsidiaries either ceased operations or were severely stricken by the war and its aftermath. The lack of interest shown by the foreign firms in the weakened post-civil war Spanish market opened an opportunity for local interests. SEAT dates its origins back to June 22, 1940, when

5360-614: The Spanish Rally Championship gravel schedule during eight years, to be ultimately superseded by the 'Copa Ibiza' rally series. In the 'Campeonato de España de Rallyes de Tierra' championship it was the SEAT Marbella Proto , a car powered by a supercharged 1.3 L 4-cylinder motor derived from the VW Polo G40 equipped with a compressor delivering a horsepower of 140 hp, under which SEAT won

5494-698: The following season , now co-driven by Luis Moya, who remained his regular co-driver for the next fifteen years. He finished fifth twice, in the Tour de Corse and the Rallye Sanremo , and seventh on an icy RAC Rally. Ford were an increasingly minor player in the World Rally Championship, with the rear-wheel-drive Sierra uncompetitive against the four-wheel-drive cars, and struggled to retain ambitious and talented young drivers such as Sainz and his teammate in 1988, Didier Auriol . Both departed

SEAT Marbella - Misplaced Pages Continue

5628-439: The "45", a lower compression rate was chosen. Nonetheless, the smaller engine had to work that much harder to keep up, and in practice the fuel economy savings were negligible. When the Marbella was introduced in December 1986, the smaller 843 cc version continued to be available. This low-priced version produced only 34 PS (25 kW) at 5,600 rpm and was not available with the five-speed transmission. Top speed for

5762-556: The 1988 championship title while in the next season Antonio Rius on the wheel of the Marbella won the two-wheel drive class. In the following years the Marbella was also driven by many drivers among which Àlex Crivillé , Juan Garriga and Jordi Tarrés , with the latter competing successfully against much more powerful cars - like the Lancia Delta - on the driver's seat of a 620 kg lightweight Marbella. The total production per year of SEAT Marbella/Panda and SEAT Terra/Trans cars

5896-497: The 1991 Frankfurt Motorshow, SEAT presented the SEAT Marbella Playa concept car. The SEAT Panda/Marbella has not only taken part and won podium positions in various race events, but also has formed its own 'Copa Panda' one-make rally series, a rally trophy - created in 1980 by SEAT and its motorsport competition director at the time José Juan Pérez de Vargas, standing next to the brand's 'Copa Fura' circuit cup - which

6030-548: The 1995 season. Sainz won on his first outing for them, on the 1998 season opener Monte Carlo Rally , and later in the season, added a victory in New Zealand . The seemingly terminal blow to title rival Tommi Mäkinen 's chances was his retirement on the first day of the final event of the year, the Rally Great Britain , which gave the initiative to Sainz, who now only had to finish fourth in order to ensure

6164-409: The 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total . He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz . Nicknamed El Matador , Sainz previously held the WRC record for most career starts until Finnish co-driver Miikka Anttila broke

6298-437: The Americas, including North America, the Caribbean , Central America, and South America, and finally Africa, mainly in North Africa. Some of its cars have been sold outside Europe, branded as Volkswagens, such as the SEAT Ibiza hatchback, known in South Africa as the Volkswagen Polo Playa , the SEAT Inca panel van as the Volkswagen Caddy , or the SEAT Córdoba , also known as the Volkswagen Polo Classic . As of 2012, SEAT

6432-422: The Banco Urquijo group revived the S.I.A.T. project. In the next year, the talks ended successfully with the signing of a three-part contract, with the understanding that the INI would hold a 51% controlling interest, as well as a ruling act in the new company preserving a focused approach of the enterprise in the 'national interest'. The Banco Urquijo group, although a minority shareholder, looked forward to assuming

6566-436: The Catalunya Motor dealership, and the Genuine Parts Centre for SEAT, Volkswagen, Audi, and Škoda brands. The factory in Martorell can sometimes assist the former SEAT plant in Pamplona, which is now owned by Volkswagen-Audi-Espana, S.A. The models produced at Martorell includes: Arona , Formentor, Ibiza , Leon , Leon Sportstourer and Audi A1 . SEAT's factory in Barcelona's Zona Franca started its activities in 1953 and

6700-430: The Ibiza and Arona are based, is carried out in these facilities, as well as most of the stamped parts for all other SEAT models. The development and assembly facilities are some of the newest within the Volkswagen Group, with the ability to produce cars not only for its own brand but also for other Volkswagen Group brands, such as Volkswagen and Audi . For example, the development and design of several Audi models (e.g.

6834-406: The Landaben assembly lines due to the need of adapting this plant to the production of the VW Polo – and eventually a partnership agreement was signed on June 16, 1983, between the two parties being represented by the president of SEAT Juan Miguel Antoñanzas and Carl Hahn on behalf of the Volkswagenwerk AG. SEAT also gained the rights to distribute Volkswagens in Spain. SEAT launched its new Ibiza,

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6968-403: The Landaben plant would also give up SEAT's plans to build a new facility in Saragossa . Although the Authi supplier factory in Manresa was transferred to a company called Cometsa for 150 million pesetas, the Landaben plant in Pamplona remained under SEAT's ownership to continue production in February 1976 only of SEAT cars this time. The 1970s were a decade of rising prosperity in Spain, which

7102-504: The Marbella gaining a pronounced slope to the front panel. The Marbella featured a boot with capacity of 272 litres, expandable to 1,088 litres when the rear seats are folded. Mechanically, the Panda borrowed heavily from the Fiat "parts bin", using engines and transmissions from the Fiat 127 . The engine is an inline four-cylinder with 40 PS (29 kW) and 903 cc. This proved adequate for this light car which weighed in at about 680 kg. A 60 PS (44 kW) kit to make

7236-442: The Martorell plant lines were the SEAT Ibiza Mk2 and its saloon version, the SEAT Córdoba Mk1 . The new Ibiza was a huge success for SEAT, greatly expanding its market share, particularly in export markets. The original planning in October 1993 to close the emblematic Zona Franca assembly plant as soon as the production of vehicles could be transferred to the more efficient Martorell plant was overturned after an arrangement between

7370-464: The Ronda as a rebadged Ritmo, ending the dispute in favour of SEAT. Rumour at the time had it that Fiat was angry because the Ronda restyling was, in fact, too close to their own planned restyling for the Fiat Ritmo, which they had to scrap. In 1982, Dr. Carl Horst Hahn , who had just assumed responsibility as the chairman of the Volkswagenwerk AG (Volkswagen Group), examined the opportunity of approaching SEAT after Fiat's withdrawal in his plan to expand

7504-460: The S.I.A.T. motor company as a fully private enterprise, but soon after 1941, the interventionist state holding company Instituto Nacional de Industria followed a decision taken by the Franco government on January 3, 1942. The goal for the new national car brand was not to be only another licensee car maker assembling foreign designs and parts in Spain, but of developing the whole manufacturing process from design to assembly within Spain. Because of

7638-446: The SEAT Training Centre, the Zona Franca Press Shop factory, producing stamped body parts, and the Barcelona Gearbox del Prat plant, producing gearboxes not only for SEAT but also for other Volkswagen Group marques ( Volkswagen , Audi , and Škoda ); the latter plant was awarded the Volkswagen Excellence Award in 2009 by the Volkswagen Group for high-quality production process and product. Another plant owned directly by SEAT from 1975

7772-590: The Spanish authorities and the Volkswagen Group, according to which the Zona Franca site would continue its operations, but would be gradually turned into a site with an auxiliary role in the production process (foundry, press shop, etc.). Meanwhile, on December 23, 1993, the 'Fábrica Navarra de Automóviles, S.A. was founded as a new company to hold the management of the Landaben factory, separating any ties to SEAT in production matters, with its shares being transferred to Volkswagen in June 1994 over which, however, SEAT would regain ownership four years later in 1998. In 1994,

7906-419: The Spanish bank ' Banco Urquijo ', with the support of a group of industrial companies, ( Hispano-Suiza , Basconia, Duro-Felguera, S.E. de Construcción Naval, Euskalduna , S.E. de Construcciones Metálicas, Fundiciones Bolueta, Echevarría, etc.) founded the 'Sociedad Ibérica de Automóviles de Turismo' (S.I.A.T.) to establish Spain's own mass production car maker. The initial Banco Urquijo's project aimed at running

8040-414: The Spanish production total – in 1971, despite the disruption that year caused by strikes and a serious flood at the coastally sited Barcelona plant. However, with just 81 cars per 1000 people, Spanish car sales were seen as ripe for further growth, and SEAT faced the prospect of increased competition with other major manufacturers contemplating the establishment or expansion of local production facilities in

8174-492: The United States and Canada from mid-2024 to early-2027, selling vehicles under their performance marque Cupra . Carlos Sainz Sr. Carlos Sainz Cenamor (born 12 April 1962) is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992 , and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru ( 1995 ), Toyota ( 1999 ) and Citroën ( 2003 , 2004 and 2005 ). In

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8308-412: The VW group's total output in 1989, as well as an opportunity to enter the relatively unexploited (at that time) Spanish market under the SEAT, VW, and Audi names. The gathering of the brand's main infrastructures in the greater Martorell plant area has taken place in a long process beginning back in 1975 with the opening of the SEAT technical centre, but only in 1989 was a decision made to start building

8442-561: The Volkswagen Group currently producing SEAT models also include the Bratislava site in Slovakia, the Volkswagen Zwickau-Mosel Plant in Zwickau, Germany (where the Cupra Born EV model is produced alongside the Volkswagen ID.3 Electric vehicle); the AutoEuropa factory in Palmela , Portugal, and Wolfsburg in Germany. Since 2016, SEAT also holds a museum in the Zona Franca's 'Nave A122' site, which hosts all production and prototype models ever presented by SEAT together with some special or limited edition vehicles with historical value for

8576-415: The Volkswagen Group's operations out of Germany and turning the German group into a global force. It also followed the precedent set by other global manufacturers (such as Ford in Valencia and General Motors in Zaragoza ) in setting up manufacturing operations in Spain. However, the Spanish authorities had already started talks with other foreign firms, such as Toyota , Nissan and Mitsubishi to choose

8710-406: The WRC project. Volkswagen's motorsport director Kris Nissen told that he needed "10 seconds" to convince Sainz to remain part of the company's efforts in the new programme. Nissen told that the team would need Sainz for some testing of the new car. In November 2011, Sainz had the honour to drive first kilometres with the new Volkswagen Polo R WRC near Trier , Germany, when the team began testing

8844-427: The Zona Franca plant has produced components and parts to be assembled in other locations. It also signalled the demise of SEAT's last Fiat-based model. In March 1999, at the Geneva Motor Show, SEAT presented a modern, stylised logo, more rounded than the last one and using the silver colour on a red background, instead of the previous blue, symbolising respectively the rational and the emotional. This came shortly after

8978-458: The bankrupt Authi to take over the brand's operations in Spain, leaving aside GM 's interest in it, which would otherwise open the path for the American automaker to enter the Spanish market, thus jeopardizing the relationship with Fiat. The talks ended in July 1975, when an agreement was announced between the two parties under which SEAT would acquire from BLMC the Authi brand along with its assets for 1,250 million pesetas. The imposed acquisition of

9112-462: The bigger engine was 131 km/h (81 mph), while the 850 could only reach 125 km/h (78 mph). 903 cc version of the engine later got electronic injection and reduced its size to 899 cc. Several differently labeled models were produced during the lifetime of the car, with few corresponding significant changes in specifications. Common models include the L, Special, XL, GL, and GLX, but there were many "special editions", especially later in

9246-425: The brand and the automotive history of Spain. Among SEAT's subsidiaries, the SEAT Deutschland GmbH subsidiary company is based in Mörfelden-Walldorf , Germany, and apart from its commercial activities, has the further responsibility of operating SEAT's electronic platform, the SEAT IT Services Network. In Wolfsburg, Germany, in the middle of a lake inside the Autostadt , the Volkswagen Group's corporate theme park,

9380-460: The brand arranged some provisional facilities for the site of the future technical centre in Martorell, and in 1973, it began construction work; this goal would come only until 1975 to be reached with the completion of the first phase in the construction of a facility designed by the Catalan architect Josep Antoni Coderch . During the same period, the manufacturer continued to dominate the Spanish auto market, producing 282,698 cars – more than 58% of

9514-527: The brand opened its new headquarters in Madrid , which hosted the firm's sole – up to 1972 – general administration offices. SEAT's plant manager was only in Barcelona until 1973 when SEAT settled another general director in Catalonia. In 1967, 14 years after producing cars for the domestic market, SEAT's success was signalled by its dominant position in Spain, ahead of its major competitors, i.e. ' FASA-Renault ', 'Citroën-Hispania', Authi , and Barreiros , making SEAT Spain's largest automaker in sales numbers and

9648-616: The brand was withdrawn from those markets due to Volkswagen's decision citing that current and expected circumstances made the ongoing importation of a niche brand unviable. SEAT sold cars in the Russian Federation from 2007 to 2015. SEAT was reintroduced to the New Zealand market in 2017. SEAT re-entered the Australian market in 2022, selling vehicles under their performance marque Cupra . SEAT plans to re-launch in

9782-467: The championship before the season-ending Rally GB , where McRae crashed out. Ford also lost the manufacturer's title to Peugeot . In 2002 , Sainz inherited the victory of the Rally Argentina , having provisionally finished third, due to the disqualifications of the two leading Peugeots of Marcus Grönholm and Burns. This was his only win of the season, and in a close fight for second place in

9916-526: The company are located in Martorell, an industrial town approximately 30 km northwest of Barcelona, with an annual production capacity of around 500,000 units. On 22 February 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain inaugurated this plant, which became the main plant of SEAT and was accompanied by its assembly plant at the coast in Barcelona's free port zone ( Zona Franca ). There is a rail link connecting SEAT's Martorell and Zona Franca facilities, which facilitates

10050-521: The company decided the plant would be constructed in the duty-free zone area of the Port of Barcelona (Barcelona Zona Franca), which would offer better access to the Mediterranean shipping and the rest of Europe through rail and road connections across the nearby French border. Barcelona was, after all, a city with an industrial history that had built up expertise in complex industrial enterprises since

10184-459: The country's lack of expertise in automotive mass-production development, finding a foreign partner that would contribute technically and with its models in the early years in exchange for cash, shares, bonds, and royalties became the course of action. With the rest of Europe having entered World War II , and Spain itself in ruins from its civil war, the project was delayed but not abandoned due to its strategic importance. SEAT under its current name

10318-490: The design centre in Sitges – the Spanish coastal town south of Barcelona – and the suppliers' park in Zona Franca were also inaugurated, and in the winter of the same year, SEAT's financing and leasing companies – Fiseat and Liseat – were sold to Volkswagen Financial Services AG. In 1994, SEAT, in collaboration with Suzuki , manufactured a five-door prototype model of a city car , internally named Rosé, aiming to replace with it

10452-470: The drivers line-up for the 2022 season and achieved two podiums at the Desert and Copper X-Prixs. The team finished in third in the teams' championship. The team again maintained the drivers line-up for the 2023 season. However, in January 2023, Sainz suffered multiple spinal fractures after crashing at the Dakar Rally and was replaced by Mattias Ekström for the season. The team started strongly at

10586-507: The drivers' championship, behind the dominant Grönholm, Sainz finished third, one point ahead of his teammate McRae. Effectively frozen out along with McRae at Ford, he along with the Scot moved to Citroën for the 2003 , during which he scored one win in Turkey – which was the first gravel event win for Citroën Xsara WRC – and finished third in the championship. Sainz continued with the team in

10720-420: The drivers' points standings. Sainz failed to score a victory on any rally during the 2001 season , but with five podiums and four other point-scoring finishes, he managed to keep himself in the title fight throughout the very closely contested season, eventually finishing sixth in the standings, only eleven points adrift of the champion, Subaru's Richard Burns . Meanwhile, teammate McRae took three wins and led

10854-600: The end of World War II. The birth of SEAT came almost a year and a half after the Spanish government and six Spanish banks ('Banco Urquijo', ' Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto) ', ' Banco de Bilbao ', ' Banco de Vizcaya ', 'Banco Hispano-Americano', and 'Banco Central') had signed on October 26, 1948, an alliance contract with the Italian car manufacturer Fiat to form a partnership with a foreign ally to bring to life Spain's major car manufacturer. The favoured bidders were Germany's Volkswagen and Italy's Fiat. Fiat's bid won for several reasons, including Fiat's prominence in Spain and

10988-572: The end of the 2004 season, with a possible view to moving into the World Touring Car Championship , he was invited back to the WRC fold on the request of Citroën, to replace the faltering Belgian driver François Duval . Although Duval was soon to reclaim his seat, Sainz's two rallies back in the Citroën impressed many, with the now 43-year-old Spaniard posting fourth and third finishing positions respectively. In 2006, Sainz

11122-410: The end of vehicle production in that factory. The SEAT model did not receive the mechanical and cosmetic tweaks (such as the loss of front window quarter-lights ) applied to Fiat Pandas "Mark II"s from 1986 but was instead subjected to those from SEAT. The obvious differences between a Panda and a Marbella are at the front and back of the car where head and tail lights and boot panels are different,

11256-464: The event. In 2010 Sainz also won the Silk Way Rally for the second time. In the 2011 Dakar Rally, Sainz finished third. Sainz entered Dakar Rally 2013 in a brand-new two-wheel-drive buggy. His teammate was former Dakar-winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and the team was supported by Qatar and Red Bull . Sainz won the first stage, but faced later various problems and was finally forced to retire on

11390-631: The fact that the company established the short-lived 'Fiat Hispania' plant in Guadalajara , which was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War. Fiat's collaboration with the French company Simca proved Fiat's ability to manage complex international projects. Fiat's experience in the semiprotected car market in Italy was seen as the most easily transferable to the one in Spain, both of which had, at

11524-642: The feedback and the relationship of the brand with the customers and its worldwide network. In January 2007, the operation of the SEAT Prototypes Centre of Development located in the heart of the Martorell industrial complex began, a facility inaugurated on July 16 of the same year, bringing together activities related to the virtual and physical preproduction processes of new models (prototyping, modelling, pilot product development, and series analysis), thus shortening development times for prototypes and preproduction vehicles, as well as saving costs with

11658-484: The former CEO of BMW , was appointed to head SEAT. In the spring of 2002, as Pischetsrieder was commissioned to chair the entire Volkswagen Group, he gave way to his German compatriot Andreas Schleef on March 7, 2002. From 2002 to 2007, SEAT formed part of the Audi Brand Group, the Volkswagen Group's automotive subdivision, consisting of Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini, which was focused on more sporty values, with

11792-629: The former claimed the car was too similar to a car in Fiat's range, the Ritmo . In defence of SEAT, the then-president of SEAT, Juan Miguel Antoñanzas, showed a Ronda to the press with all the parts different from the Fiat Ritmo painted in bright yellow to highlight the differences. The case was eventually taken to the Arbitration Chamber of Paris, which in 1983 declared that differences between both cars were important enough not to consider

11926-505: The fourth stage of the rally. In 2018, Sainz took the second Dakar win of his career with Peugeot team. After Peugeot shut down its rally raid programme, Sainz joined X-Raid to drive a Mini at the 2019 Dakar Rally . He stuck the car in a large hole on stage 3, damaging the suspension, but limped to the end of the stage and finished the event 13th. Sainz won his third Dakar Rally in 2020 , with co-driver Lucas Cruz . The duo registered four stage wins to their name, before finally winning

12060-406: The implementation of locally made components in the production process to limit imports from one part and from another part to push the development of the almost nonexistent Spanish supplier industry and meet SEAT's assigned key role as the national carmaker in restoring the Spanish economy of post–World War II Spain. By 1954, the use of Spanish-made parts had risen to 93% of the total, and the factory

12194-540: The integration of the Spanish brand to the Volkswagen group, SEAT was able to strengthen even more its involvement in motorsport activities with the formation of the SEAT Sport department in 1985. Since the SEAT Panda model had been replaced in SEAT's range by the SEAT Marbella in 1986, it was the time that the 'Copa Panda' cup should be succeeded too by the 'Copa Marbella' one. The 'Copa Marbella' formed part of

12328-590: The latter part of the 19th century; it was also the host location of many early historical Spanish carmakers, such as Hispano-Suiza and Elizalde , and subsidiaries of foreign carmakers, such as Ford Motor Ibérica and General Motors Peninsular. Being an enterprise of vital interest for the national economy and an investment opportunity for Fiat's expansion plans through the Iberian peninsula, SEAT benefitted from state tariff and tax exemptions and technical assistance from its foreign partner Fiat. The company's first president

12462-584: The launch of the second-generation Toledo which used it as a badge and shortly before the launch of the Toledo-based Leon hatchback. The " auto emoción " slogan was presented in September 2000, reflecting the brand's new youthful and sporty corporate identity, while SEAT Sport , apart from its motorsport activities, would undertake the responsibility of developing SEAT's high-performance vehicles. On July 1, 2000, Dr. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder ,

12596-527: The life of the Marbella. In September 1989 the "Black", "Red", and "Yellow" specials were added, "Blue", "Green", "CLX", and "Jeans" joined in September 1990. Various export markets also received market specific editions, such as the "Le Jouet" series marketed in France in the early nineties. A van version of the Marbella, called the SEAT Terra (codenamed 24 for SEAT Terra and 024A for SEAT Terra box),

12730-403: The luxury end of the market, of which Hispano-Suiza was the most successful. Spain's limited market for mass-produced vehicles was taken over by foreign companies operating through subsidiaries that either imported cars or assembled cars from imported parts, depriving the country of the technological know-how and large investments needed for mass production. The situation greatly deteriorated with

12864-606: The markets out of Spain. Its core market remains Europe, while the most successful market outside of Europe in sales for SEAT is currently Mexico , where the company has a dealer presence in 27 Mexican states. In Europe, the brand has been launched in almost 40 countries across the continent. SEAT today also sells its cars in 11 countries in Asia, mostly in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula , in 16 countries in

12998-642: The marque's product vehicles and performance being under the responsibility of the Audi brand. In 2006, the new SEAT corporate head office was opened in Martorell and the Martorell SEAT Design Centre superseded the Volkswagen Group Design Centre Europe at Sitges, which previously hosted the design facility jointly owned by SEAT, Volkswagen, and Audi, as on February 23 of the same year, an agreement over

13132-417: The meantime since 1951, the Spanish marque was starting preparations for setting up almost from scratch an entire supplier industry background. The first car in the marque's history to be produced was a SEAT 1400 model that came off the production line on November 13, 1953, with license plate B-87.223. In the following few months, the plant's production output and workforce significantly increased together with

13266-514: The needs of its range. However, the first example of a SEAT-exclusive derivative would arrive in September 1963 with the launch of the SEAT 800 , a car developed in-house by SEAT with no equivalent model in Fiat's range based on the SEAT 600 as a stretched version with four doors. In 1957 SEAT founded the SEAT Training Centre in the greater Zona Franca plant area, an institution covering the training of qualified personnel and serving

13400-606: The needs of the automobile industry in specialized technical human resources. In that same year, the historical SEAT 600 was launched, which proved to be the crucial car that literally motorized Spain, being the first car for many Spanish families and becoming a symbol of the Spanish miracle . As the annual production growth was hitting one record after another due to the heavy demand, the economies of scale permitted cutting costs and prices, subsequently renewing demand and boosting sales together with profits for SEAT. On June 29, 1964,

13534-761: The new car. In late 2011, Nissen also revealed he would like to see Sainz taking part in some rally with the WRC Polo before he calls time on his career. In early 2012 Sainz drove the Polo WRC in its maiden gravel test in Spain with Sébastien Ogier and in summer he tested the Polo WRC in Finland. In October Sainz re-joined his old co-driver Luis Moya to perform course car duties on the San Marino ´s annual Rally Legend event with Volkswagen's new-for-2013 Polo R WRC. In December 2012 Sainz dismissed rumours he would drive

13668-470: The next years would supply parts not only to SEAT and Citroën-Hispania but also to Ford España, was meant to be transferred later in 1986 to the multinational company GKN . In May 1975, after a request from the Spanish state authorities to ensure the rescue of the jobs for the workers in the Authi-owned factories, SEAT moved on talks with the parent company British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) of

13802-499: The plant site was meant to serve the aim of optimising the development of new models. On February 22, 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain and the newly elected chairman of the Volkswagen Group Dr. Ferdinand Piëch inaugurated the Martorell plant, one of the most modern and efficient car plants in Europe, using the just-in-time process with its suppliers' site located only 2.5 km away. The first cars that rolled out of

13936-522: The podium in three rallies in a row. His teammate, by then two-time world champion Juha Kankkunen , also gave the Celica GT-Four ST165 its debut win at the inaugural Rally Australia . Sainz would almost certainly have won his first World Championship Rally on the final event of the season, the RAC Rally, but for mechanical failure in the final stages, which relegated him to second. In the 1990 season , Sainz drove his GT-Four to victory at

14070-473: The private but Lancia -backed Jolly Club . Lancia had won the manufacturers' championship for the previous six years, but the Delta was an ageing design and technical developments during the season were minor, despite assurances given to Sainz that development would continue. The Delta lost ground to newer cars, and became less and less competitive as 1993 wore on. Sainz's only podium finish was his second place at

14204-466: The race with a lead of just 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Sainz returned to the Dakar Rally in 2021 with Mini, recording three stage victories on the way to an overall third-place finish. After joining Audi in 2022, Sainz won his fourth Dakar Rally in 2024 , becoming the oldest Dakar winner at age 61. As Volkswagen Motorsport announced its WRC entry for 2013, Sainz was announced to be part of

14338-564: The record set by Sainz a year earlier (140). Aboard the new ST185 Toyota Celica in the 1992 season , in a year that would prove the last for the foreseeable future for Lancia, Sainz managed to score memorable victories on the Safari Rally and on his home asphalt round, the Rally Catalunya . The title fight again went down to the wire, and this time in a three-way battle; before the RAC, Sainz led Kankkunen by two points and Auriol, who had taken

14472-674: The record. He was also the first non- Nordic driver to win the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland. He came close to repeating the feat at the Swedish Rally , finishing second four times and third twice. Alongside his WRC successes, he has won the Dakar Rally (2010, 2018, 2020, 2024), the Race of Champions (1997) and the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (1990). His co-drivers were Antonio Boto, Luis Moya , Marc Martí , and Lucas Cruz . His son, Carlos Sainz Jr. ,

14606-454: The same year, the Volkswagen Group became the major shareholder of SEAT. On December 18, 1990, the Volkswagen Group bought the remaining 25% of the company, thus making SEAT the first non-German wholly-owned subsidiary of the group. Fulfilling Hahn's expectations, SEAT not only made a profit two years after Volkswagen bought a majority of its stock but also provided a low-cost manufacturing outlet for other VW models, contributing up to 15.2% of

14740-465: The second scheduled cycle. Sainz began rallying in 1980. He finished runner-up in the Spanish Rally Championship in 1986, in a Group B Renault 5 Turbo, and won it with a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth in 1987 and 1988. Ford gave him his first World Rally championship appearances during the 1987 season . He finished seventh in the Tour de Corse and eighth on the RAC Rally . He remained with Ford for

14874-461: The sixth stage due to an engine failure. After the retirement Sainz commented that despite the result, "it was worth coming here with this concept ... I hope the experience will be useful for the future even if I'm not sure whether I'll come back”. However, later Sainz announced he would like to be part of Qatar Red Bull Rally Team and return to the Dakar in 2014. Sainz took part in the 2014 Dakar, but

15008-612: The squad, aboard the Ford Escort RS Cosworth and later, the Escort World Rally Car . In 1996, he won the inaugural Rally Indonesia and with five other podium finishes to his name, he took third place in the drivers' world championship, behind Mitsubishi's Tommi Mäkinen and Subaru's McRae. In the 1997 season , he again won the Indonesian round, along with the Acropolis Rally , but again lost

15142-467: The still heavily protected Spanish car market. In 1973, SEAT and Citroën-Hispania jointly contributed equal shares in founding the Vigo -located factory of Industrias Mecánicas de Galicia, SA (Indugasa) producing constant-velocity joints , essential components used in front-wheel drive cars, i.e. in a transmission layout the use of which was becoming more and more common at the time. This plant, which in

15276-624: The team for 1989; Auriol to Lancia and Sainz to Toyota Team Europe , the Japanese marque's rallying arm operating in Cologne , Germany. Despite all previous rallying Toyota Celicas having only ever looked a competitive prospect on highly specialized endurance rallies such as the Safari Rally , the new combination of Toyota and Sainz rapidly rose in competitiveness. In the 1989 season , Sainz started with four retirements but then finished on

15410-507: The time, customers of low incomes and limited markets for cars, as well as similar road conditions. In Italy, Fiat dominated the market for vehicles under 12 horsepower, which would initially be the main market segment in Spain. The relative economic isolation of World War II damaged Italy and made Fiat interested in opportunities outside Italy, meaning that the negotiations with the Italian manufacturer could prosper more easily in favour of Spanish interests than those from other countries. In 1947,

15544-533: The title fight to Mäkinen and McRae. However, he won the Race of Champions at the end of 1997. Sainz then departed, once again, for Toyota, partnering Didier Auriol and helping to further the Corolla World Rally Car project that had been instituted in 1997, as part of the Cologne based team's recovery from the embarrassment of exclusion from the world championship on the penultimate round of

15678-478: The title. However, just 300 metres (980 ft) from the finish of the last stage, he too was forced to retire from the needed fourth place with a mechanical problem. As a result, both Sainz and Toyota gifted their respective titles to rivals Mäkinen and Mitsubishi Ralliart . A subdued season followed for Sainz in 1999, although it did at least culminate in a departing manufacturers' title for Toyota, by now fostering alternative interests in Formula One . Sainz took

15812-543: The transfer of the installations of the latter to the City of Sitges was closed, with the Martorell's Design Centre official opening eventually taking place on December 30, 2007. On January 12, 2007, the inauguration of the building of the SEAT Service Centre next to the southern entrance of the Martorell factory was held, the department focused on technical support, after-sales and marketing purposes, and covering

15946-477: The transportation of vehicles and parts between the two locations. The Martorell industrial complex houses numerous facilities, including Cupra Racing (formerly SEAT Sport), SEAT's Technical Center, Research and Development Center (R&D), Design Center, Prototypes Centre of Development, SEAT Service Center, which includes the After-Sales Service and Customer Services divisions, as well as

16080-475: The use of modern technologies such as virtual simulation. In September 2023, it was announced that the SEAT brand would be eliminated on passenger cars by 2030 once the current models reach the end of their respective lifespans as a result of poor sales, with resources shifted to the stronger selling Cupra brand. However, Volkswagen did not completely rule out using the SEAT brand for another automotive role. The headquarters and main manufacturing facilities of

16214-539: The works team. These were the part of the 5,000 units of ST185 for WRC homologation . It is said that Sainz still keeps a Celica GT-Four given to him by Toyota, which he drives to Real Madrid games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium . Despite winning the world title Sainz left Toyota at the end of 1992, mainly because for the 1993 season the team was to be sponsored by Castrol , a rival to Sainz's personal sponsor, Repsol . Sainz therefore moved to

16348-523: Was addressed to young drivers aiming to come close to the motorsport experience. The most renowned rally driver who emerged from that competition series was the Spanish Carlos Sainz , the winner in the first edition of the 'Copa Panda' rally. Due to his win SEAT granted to him as an award a SEAT Panda 45 Grupo 2 rally car, under which he won his first title in the first already season of the 'Copa Panda' championship in 1982. Together with

16482-654: Was also available until 1986. In much the same configuration as the Terra, it was called the SEAT Trans and was extremely similar to the Fiat Panda's commercial version . In 1982 SEAT produced in its plant in Zona Franca a popemobile car, a modified version derived from the SEAT Panda, which was used during the Pope John Paul II 's 1982 visit in Spain. That specific vehicle was an 'all-open-air' car with

16616-495: Was announced that Sainz would team up with QEV Technologies to form Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join the all-electric SUV off-road racing series Extreme E in the inaugural season with Laia Sanz and himself as the drivers line-up. The team made its Extreme E debut at the 2021 Desert X-Prix and achieved a podium finish at the Arctic X-Prix . The team finished in sixth in the teams championship. The team maintained

16750-472: Was at the wheel of a Volkswagen in that year's Dakar Rally , sharing the cockpit with the two times winner of the Dakar Rally, Andreas Schulz . In 2007, he repeated his attempt with Volkswagen, this time with French Michel Perin , also a former winner of the raid. Following the resignation of Fernando Martin , he even ran, eventually in vain, for the vice-president position at his beloved football club Real Madrid , for which he once trained. In 2007 Sainz won

16884-422: Was forced to retire after a crash on stage 10. In March 2014 it was announced that Peugeot Sport would return to Dakar in 2015 and Sainz joined Cyril Despres to race for Peugeot, driving its Peugeot 2008 DKR . In the rally he retired after a crash. In Dakar 2016 Sainz was forced to retire from the lead after the gearbox of his Peugeot broke. In 2017 Sainz also had to retire after rolling his Peugeot during

17018-489: Was founded on May 9, 1950, under the denomination 'Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo, S.A.' (S.E.A.T.) by the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI) with a starting capital of 600 million pesetas – equivalent today of almost 3.6 million euros – in the form of 600,000 shares of 1000 pesetas each, and in a time when the country needed remodeling the fundamental structures in its national economy, just after

17152-406: Was not prepared to contribute, partially due to the oil crisis of the 1970s and also due to the uncertainty for Fiat's interests following the end of a protectionist policy against GM in Spain. The outcome, in 1982, was an end to the relationship with Fiat after nearly 30 years, a rather surprising decision despite the favourable perspectives for the Spanish economy, with Spain being in the anteroom of

17286-421: Was officially opened the next year on May 5, 1955. Nevertheless, the impact on Spanish society could not be seen immediately since the first model launched by SEAT was considered a luxury car, so it was highly priced and still not affordable to the average Spanish consumer. Consequently, SEAT needed a second, more economical model to compete against simpler, inexpensive designs that appeared in the local market, like

17420-571: Was planning to expand into the Chinese market, first with Spanish-produced models, followed later in a second phase by the local assembly of SEAT models in China. SEAT's further expansion plans in more markets outside of Europe have yet to be realised. The company was considering a possible launch in the United States in the past, although this move has never been carried out. Rumours also of

17554-546: Was produced in Spain from 1987 to 1996 when this model was meant to be replaced from its successor, the SEAT Inca . The SEAT Terra shared the underpinnings and front of the Marbella, but the back was replaced by a large, high metal box; there was also a load rack above the cab roof. It was very popular in Spain, and was also available in export markets. Before this, a van based on the Marbella's predecessor (the SEAT Panda)

17688-718: Was the Landaben plant in Pamplona , but in December 1993 its ownership was transferred to the Volkswagen Group subsidiary "Volkswagen-Audi-Espana, S.A.", and the site today is producing Volkswagen cars in Spain. However, SEAT's Martorell site still provides support to Volkswagen's operations in the Pamplona plant when necessary, as it did after a serious fire in the paint shop in the Landaben VW plant in April 2007. Factories of

17822-486: Was the industrial and aeronautical engineer, pilot, and photographer José Ortiz-Echagüe Puertas , who came from the Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA , where he had held the position of CEO , and who in 1976 was named the Honorary lifetime president of SEAT. The construction works for SEAT's Zona Franca plant began in 1950, and the opening day came three years later on June 5, 1953, while in

17956-516: Was the production facility where the first SEAT models such as the SEAT 1400 and the 600 were built. In 1993, the car production began to get transferred to the new Martorell plant, and since then, the Barcelona factory has been producing parts such as doors, roofs, fenders and chassis. 80% of the production of the parts for the MQB A0, the compact modular platform of the Volkswagen Group on which

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