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Seat increases world sales by 1.9% in 2006
14th January, 2007 | ||||
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The Spanish car manufacturer Seat, member of the Volkswagen Group, witnessed a
1.9% increase in world sales in 2006, bringing the total number of units sold to
430,000. This improvement in Seat model sales is largely due the sharp upturn in
Western European markets, which saw 2.8 per cent growth during the twelve months
of 2006 over the same period for the previous year. In a country-by-country breakdown, the most significant world sales
increases for 2006 were seen in the UK (up by 15.5% to 32,844 units), followed
by Italy (33,418 units) and Portugal (12,075 units, a 10.3 per cent increase).
The sales upturn in absolute terms for Slovakia was almost 20 per cent (2,366
units), whereas the German market – Seat’s second most important market anywhere
in the world after its home ground – saw a 2.5 per cent improvement, taking the
total number of units sold to over 51,367. Seat sales recorded in Spain for the same period moved in line with a 2%
general market downturn, according to ANFAC, the Spanish Automobile & Truck
Manufacturers’ Association. Seat deliveries totalled 146,515 units (145,406
registrations). Seat currently holds the third largest market share in Spain
(9.7 per cent), maintaining a position similar to that of 2005. Seat’s President Erich Schmitt, has declared his satisfaction at “the
way sales performed last year. We intend to continue with this trend for the
forthcoming years, on the back of the sharp upturn in demand as well as some of
our ground-breaking models which will capture the hearts and minds of our
customers”. A model-by-model breakdown shows that the record for world sales in 2006 is
held by the new León, whose growth ratio stands at 194 per cent – or almost
110,000 units in raw figures; then comes the Ibiza, with 184,375 units sold
worldwide, an increase of almost four per cent. The Ibiza is the best-selling
car in its segment in Spain and the third overall in absolute terms. | |||||
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