Seat's sales are growing, but profit and profitability are plummeting.
Tariffs on Chinese cars and operating costs are hurting the company's results.
BarcelonaSales at Seat – with its two brands, Seat and Cupra – continued to grow during the first nine months of this year, but both profitability and profits plummeted, according to data released by the Martorell-based automaker. Sales increased by 4.1 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, reaching 439,500 vehicles, and the company's revenue grew by 6.9 percent to €11.2 billion. Despite this growth, the company's operating profit plummeted by 96.2 percent, settling at just €16 million. Furthermore, the return on sales was a meager 0.1 percent, 3.8 percentage points lower than in the same period of the previous year. This profitability decline occurred even though the Cupra brand, which offers a higher profit margin than Seat, contributed more significantly to the increase in car sales. In fact, Cupra grew by 37%, reaching a record 245,300 units, while deliveries for the Seat brand fell by 20.1% to 194,200 units.
Seat and Cupra CEO Markus Haupt stated in a press release that these results "reflect the challenges we have faced during the year," referring to The impact of European tariffs on the Cupra Tavascan model, which is produced in China, and the increase in costs, among other factors.
Electrification and globalization
In this context, he affirmed that the company remains "fully committed" to its strategy of focusing on "electrification, the globalization of Cupra, and a sustainable business model based on our two brands." Furthermore, the company highlighted this sales increase despite the fact that the Martorell plant is undergoing transformation to produce the group's first electric models, including the Cupra Raval. Seat maintains its focus "on margin quality, revenue management, and rigorous cost control programs." "We also remain committed to a constructive dialogue with the European Commission to address the tariffs on the Cupra Tavascan," Haupt stated. The company emphasized the "resilience" demonstrated by sales despite the fact that production in Martorell has been adjusted to prepare one of the lines for manufacturing the family of urban electric vehicles. "The positive sales figures demonstrate that we are on the right track," Haupt affirmed. The executive expressed confidence that the upcoming launches of the nine Seat Ibiza and Arona models and the Cupra Raval in early 2026 will help "strengthen our market position and drive future growth." Looking ahead to the last quarter of this year and the beginning of 2026, the company anticipates that global market conditions "will remain challenging," requiring "greater flexibility and operational agility."
