SEAT IMPROVES RESULTS THANKS TO EXPORTS

• Operating result improved almost 100 million euros
  
• Benchmark employer, more than 1,000 new employees in 2011
• Sales leader in Spain for second year running
  
• Product offensive in 2012 – one new model per quarter
  
• Over 2.6 billion euros invested since onset of crisis to consolidate future
  

Martorell, 03.04.2012 – Internationalisation enabled SEAT to weather the storm affecting the Spanish market in 2011, and forge ahead with its plans for growth and profitability. SEAT passed the 5 billion euros mark in terms of revenues (5,049 million, 8.3% more than the previous financial year), thanks to an increase in exports and the market success of its products.

The difficult economic situation didn’t prevent the Volkswagen Group brand from devoting 555 million euros (7% up on last year) to investment and R&D. In spite of this, SEAT improved its operating account by almost 100 million euros (30%), ending 2011 with a result totalling -232 million euros compared to the -330 million of the previous financial year. Earnings after tax improved by 43 million (41.3%) to -61 million euros*.

“SEAT has delivered on its commitments. We have improved all our indicators and this year we want to continue in the same direction” said SEAT’s President James Muir during presentation of the company’s results for 2011.

“Our company is following the plan laid out to achieve profitability. We have continued to increase earnings and optimised costs, and this has enabled us to improve our results. We have also created more than 1,000 employees and invested 555 million euros to consolidate our future. We are on the right track”, remarked Holger Kintscher, SEAT executive Vice-president for Finances and Organization.

Sales increased by 3.1% and exports by 11.4%.
In 2011 SEAT delivered 3.1% more vehicles (350,009 units) worldwide, in spite of the Spanish market crisis, and at year’s end was car registrations leader for the second year running in Spain. The company made up for the downturn in its home market by an 11.4% increase in exports, which now account for almost 80% of total deliveries.

The upturn was particularly significant in Germany (+20.9%), France (+14.6%), the United Kingdom (+9.6%) and Italy (+6.5%). SEAT increased its market share in the European Union, and also sold 35.4% more in Mexico, plus 35.6% more in North Africa and the Middle East.

More than 1,000 new employees.
In 2011 SEAT broadened and up-dated its product range with the launch onto the Spanish market of the Mii – the brand’s new city car, signaling its return to this segment and greater market coverage. The Mii – to be marketed internationally in the forthcoming weeks – was joined by the revamped Exeo and the Alhambra 4 – extending the range of SEAT’s award-winning MPV with a four-wheel drive version.

Thanks to the success of SEAT products and the start-up of the Audi Q3, the company increased production at Martorell, its main production facility, by 5.5%, totaling 353,420 vehicles. Both elements enabled SEAT not only to keep its workforce at full strength but also take on a further 1,000 employees, thus becoming one of Spain’s major generators of employment. SEAT also finalized a new, more modern and flexible collective agreement, partially linking pay to company results, as well as paving the way for the creation of yet more jobs.

2012. A new model every quarter.
SEAT will continue to enlarge its product range with new models and new segments, by means of an approach constituting the greatest product offensive in the company’s entire history, thanks to investment and expenditure in R&D of over 2.6 billion euros over the past five years, in the midst of the crisis.

The new city car Mii and the new Ibiza – the brand’s and Spain’s best-selling car, already at dealerships – will be joined after the summer break by the new Toledo, a preview of which was seen at the Geneva Motor Show one month ago, and the 5-door Leon before year’s end. This model will be the first SEAT vehicle to be manufactured based on the Volkswagen Group’s ground-breaking modular transverse toolkit (MQB), enabling improved cost efficiency and manufacture time and reducing CO₂ emissions.

New markets, new design language for further growth.
In parallel SEAT will be starting up sales and marketing activities in China, while at the same time, strengthening its presence in other emerging markets such as Russia and Mexico, with a view to increasing sales and nearing its objective of hitting full production capacity at the Martorell plant.

The product range the company is showcasing this year shows a new design language, coupled with a renewal of the brand’s DNA. The new visual identity will be more modern, reflecting the precision and quality of the brand to enjoy technology. This transformation is encapsulated in the brand’s new claim - ‘Enjoyneering’.

SEAT President James Muir summed up, “This year we are launching an unprecedented product offensive, while at the same time entering the demanding and exciting Chinese market. Ahead of us we have a year of intense work on all fronts, and good news”.

*SEAT prepares its financial statements in compliance with the Spanish General Accounting Plan, not including subsidiary companies. Volkswagen applied International Accounting Standards (IAS/IFRS), and consolidates the SEAT brand figures.

SEAT is the only company in its sector with the full-range capacity to design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting approximately 80% of its vehicles to 75 countries. SEAT is market leader in Spain, and in 2011 had a total turnover of more than 5.0 billion euros, with overall deliveries amounting to 350,000 units.

SEAT Group employs more than 14,000 professionals at its three production centres in Barcelona - Zona Franca, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon, amongst other models. The Volkswagen Group production facility at Palmela in Portugal supplies the SEAT Alhambra and the factory in Bratislava (Slovakia) manufactures the SEAT Mii.

The Spanish multinational also has a Technical Center, a ‘knowledge hub’, bringing together more than 900 engineers whose goal is to be the driving force behind innovation for the number one industrial investor in R&D in Spain. In line with its declared commitment to environmental protection, SEAT undertakes and bases its core activity on sustainability, namely reduction of CO₂ emissions, energy efficiency, as well as recycling and re-use of resources.