Cupra, about to overtake Seat

BarcelonaThe Cupra brand "has been the driving force behind our profitability and success." This was clear from Seat and Cupra president Wayne Griffiths at the presentation of 2024 resultsThere is data to corroborate this: the most manufactured model in Martorell is a Cupra, the best-selling model by the company is a Cupra, and the Cupra range already surpasses the Seat range in number of models.

The difference is that Seat celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025. Cupra, for its part, was only born seven years ago. "The little boy is about to eat the big boy," explain company sources. The bet made by the then president of Seat, Luca de Meo, and then by his successor, Griffiths, has been decisive. A bet that has allowed lead the company to record sales, car manufacturing, and profitability figures. In 2024, both brands sold 558,169 cars, a historic record, and generated revenue of €14.578 billion, a record high. Operating profit also rose to a record high of €633 million, with only net profit suffering a slight decline—€522 million in 2024 compared to €548 million in 2023—due to a purely accounting effect: Seat was unable to apply as many tax credits as the previous year to offset losses.

The company's commitment to Cupra is clear. This sportier and more emotional brand is leading the electrification of models. But it also offers greater profitability. Cupra's margin per unit sold is higher than that of each Seat sold, company sources explain. It's no surprise, then, that Cupra's range already surpasses Seat's—the Cupra Formentor, León, Ateca, Borne, Terramar, and Tavascan, compared to Seat's Ibiza, Arona, León, Ateca, and Tarraco. Furthermore, the next planned launch, for early 2026, will be another Cupra, the Raval, the small and affordable 100% electric car that will be manufactured in Martorell.

The market has welcomed the Cupra brand. A clear example is the Leon model, which was once Seat's best-selling car and is manufactured for both Seat and Cupra. In 2024, 43,093 units of the Seat Leon were manufactured at the Martorell plant. Of its sibling, the Cupra Leon, 62,771 were made. And 63,238 Cupra Leons were sold across all markets, compared to 44,962 Seat Leons.

In fact, Cupra, in a very difficult year for the automotive sector in Europe, has become the greatest joy for the Volkswagen consortium. Seat's sports brand closed 2024 as the fastest-growing brand in Europe. In 2024Cupra broke its record with 248,100 cars delivered to the market, 7.5% more than in 2023, which was 230,700; since 2018, it has accumulated more than 800,000, while the Seat brand sold 310,000 cars, 7.5% more than the 288,400 in 2023.

But in addition, Cupra has managed to make a very important hole in its parent company's own market: sales in Germany grew by 11.6% last year, reaching 80,700 cars sold. In fact, one of the things that Cupra has contributed to Seat is growth in the foreign market. Seat has seen many markets in markets such as Germany or the Regne Unit, and has spread to other European countries, but Cupra has contributed to consolidation in Central European markets such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and has provided sales coverage to countries outside Europe, such as New Zealand and Australia, and It must become the point of access to the State Units, as stated by the company's president, Wayne Griffiths.

The threat

With these figures everything indicates that Cupra should do the overtaking to its parent brand, Seat, this year or, at the latest, next year, when the Cupra Raval is launched. But Chinese tariffs put this at risk. For the first time, Seat has started manufacturing in China., specifically the Cupra Tavascan model. And that car, one of the most expensive and with the highest margin, pays 20% tariffs. If they are passed on to the customer, it would be even more expensive. For now, the company is maintaining the price, but this has already affected the 2024 results with a 5% drop in profitability, according to Griffiths.

In fact, Seat's profitability in 2024 stagnated at 4.4%, the same as the previous year, when the goal was to reach 5%, due to the impact of the tariffs. The margin It was above that of Volkswagen (2.9%), but below the German consortium's overall figure, which was 5.9%. Griffiths urges Brussels to resolve this issue of Chinese tariffs now, because "they put the Cupra brand and the company itself at risk."

And although Brussels has relaxed the timetable for average emissions requirements for manufacturers, if the tariffs remain in place, sales of the Cupra Tavascan will have to be reduced: as it is a 100% electric car, average emissions will not be reduced as much, and this would lead to a reduction. In short, according to Griffiths' own calculations, maintaining the tariffs could jeopardize up to 1,500 jobs.