Volkswagen планує закрити марку Seat, залишивши створений нею бренд Cupra — ЗМІ

Volkswagen’s drastic cost-cutting campaign was already going to wipe out a plant or two, but now could be about to claim an entire car brand. After reports of factory closures and up to 100,000 job cuts, a leaked internal document now suggests VW will kill off Seat by the end of 2029 and concentrate its Spanish efforts on Cupra.A German media outlet says it obtained a confidential document prepared for VW’s September 3 and 4 supervisory board meeting. According to the report, Seat has already been removed from the group’s long-term strategic planning and will gradually disappear over the next three years.Related: VW’s Leaked Restructuring Plan Targets 4 Plants And Tens Of Thousands Of German Jobs

“The Seat brand will be phased out in an orderly and cost-efficient manner by the end of 2029 at the latest, while ensuring continued support for existing customers (e.g., service) and the fulfillment of existing obligations,” the VW document reads, according to WirtschaftsWoche.Products, sales operations and manufacturing infrastructure will be moved across to Cupra where possible, it goes on to say, because “continuing Seat in its current form would tie up additional resources.” It’s a dramatic end for a brand founded in 1950 and controlled by Volkswagen since the 1980s, but the direction of travel has been obvious for a while. Cupra began life as Seat’s performance badge before becoming a standalone brand in 2018, and increasingly looks like the favorite child. Cupra got to build its Raval (below), and Skoda created the Epiq from the new VW ID.Polo component set, but Seat – which still lacks an EV of any size – was left out.Cupra Growing, Seat Shrinking The numbers make it clear why. Seat and Cupra collectively sold a record 586,300 vehicles in 2025, but Cupra deliveries surged 33 percent while Seat’s fell 17 percent. VW reportedly wants Cupra alone to eventually shift between 500,000 and 600,000 cars annually.More: VW’s Leaked Restructuring Plan Targets 4 Plants And Tens Of Thousands Of German JobsBut there’s more going on here than Seat simply being punished for its poor sales performance. The brand’s reported death sentence comes as VW fights over a much bigger Group-wide restructuring program that could close four German factories and ultimately affect up to 100,000 jobs. Management wants to cut production capacity from 12 million to nine million vehicles annually as it battles weaker Chinese sales, tariffs and growing competition.Recent New Arrivals Volkswagen was talking up the Seat brand’s future as recently as January, following the introduction of updated Ibiza (above) and Arona. Eight months later, the reported internal plan paints a very different picture. VW hasn’t publicly confirmed Seat’s demise, though Seat Cupra’s UK press office did give us this statement:“The entire industry, including the Volkswagen Group and, of course, SEAT S.A., is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by our commitment to electrification. The global context has changed significantly, with a strong impact on the automotive sector, particularly over the past year. Therefore, the Volkswagen Group is working on a transformation plan for the entire Group business to strengthen its competitiveness and efficiency. The goal is to make the entire Volkswagen Group and respective entities more efficient and leaner and to capture technological synergy potential consistently.Also: Nokia Is Replacing VW In A Major European Stock Index, And That’s The Least Of VW’s ProblemsThis strategy has been discussed in several Supervisory Board meetings. No decisions have been taken at this stage. We will inform about any strategic decisions affecting SEAT S.A. in due time.”So no confirmation or denial from Seat, but if WirtschaftsWoche’s report is correct, the 76-year-old brand’s long goodbye has already begun.