Volkswagen communicates today the details of its restructuring in the face of Martorell's unease

BarcelonaKey day for the future of Seat. This Thursday, the Volkswagen Group is presenting the details of its restructuring plan for the next five years to its supervisory board, in which, as the German media Manager Magazin reported, the company plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs worldwide. It is not yet known how the cuts will be distributed, but, as sources close to the company indicate, there is concern at the Martorell headquarters about being one of the European casualties.

This situation has once again raised the specter of a possible disappearance of the Seat brand. In recent years, the group's efforts have focused on the development of Cupra, and the historic Spanish firm has taken a back seat. In fact, Seat has not launched a new model in over seven years, and its current vehicle range is limited to three: the Ibiza, the Leon, and the Arona, after the Ateca, Alhambra, Tarraco, and Mii have been discontinued.

Union sources hold the German parent company responsible for this "neglect," which they believe has not "boosted" Seat enough in recent years, and assure that the problems the group currently faces are not precisely the result of work done in the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, they detail that the progressive reduction of jobs in the Martorell offices – where about 1,300 workers have been lost in recent years through early retirement plans and unfilled vacancies – has already left the company's structure at a minimum.

Company vs. plant

Martorell is the headquarters of Seat, and this means it is much more than a simple factory. Thanks to it, Seat obtains decision-making capacity within the group and, therefore, gains a certain independence from Germany. This position, for example, differentiates it from the group's factory in Pamplona, where, despite being a plant, they do not have a company structure. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that, as a factory, Martorell also has vital importance within the group, as it is one of the three most productive Volkswagen plants in Europe.

"We are worried about what might happen," sources within the company tell ARA, assuring that if the effects end without a staff reduction, they will surely translate into fewer investments. This, precisely, is what, according to them, neither Seat nor Cupra, Martorell's other own brand, can afford at the moment, as they need "confidence" to "renew themselves" and to "get started," respectively.

Furthermore, in recent times, another of the staff's major demands has been to unblock the assignment of a second platform that would allow the factory to produce a large-segment electric car. This request is considered a strategic element for the future of the plant. As Volkswagen's CEO, Oliver Blume, explained in a meeting with journalists after the start of electric car production in Martorell, it is expected to be resolved in the coming months.

However, union sources express their concern to ARA that the restructuring process might halt the assignment. The case, as they explain, is that due to the closure of four factories in Germany, the German part of the supervisory board might demand that the vehicles manufactured in the affected factories remain in their country and that a large volume of future investments also be located there.