SEAT is to launch a second SUV model in 2017 to rival the likes of Nissan’s Juke.
The car, described as “a smaller all-road crossover” will be sold alongside the Ateca that arrives in showrooms this year.
The plans have been revealed as part of SEAT’s annual report announcement in which the Spanish brand announced its first profit since 2008.
Details of the new SUV are currently non-existent, SEAT only stating that it will be completely designed and developed at the company’s Martorell, Barcelona, headquarters. However it is thought that the car will be based on the next Ibiza supermini and be built on the wide-ranging VW Group MQB platform. It is not likely to be seen until early in 2017.
SEAT recorded a profit after tax of 6 million Euros, contrasting with a loss of €66 million in 2014 and put down to a growth in sales and a product mix that makes a greater contribution to profits.
Turnover was 8.3 billion euros, 11 per cent up on 2014, the company’s best ever result and double the revenue in 2009. Average earnings per vehicle increased by 3.5 per cent.
According to SEAT head Luca de Meo the progress in 2015 was twofold, both obtaining a positive result for the first time since 2008, and achieving it during a year of major challenges.
“We are implementing the right strategy that enables us to face the challenge of sustaining long-term profitability with optimism – we have a brilliant future ahead of us thanks to the launch of new products and the integration of new technologies in both the field of mobility as well as connectivity”, de Meo says.
Sales grew for a third year in a row, for the first time breaking 400,000 vehicles in a single year, thanks mainly to recoveries in main European market such as Spain and Italy, the fifth consecutive year of growth in Germany, SEAT’s main market, and success in Mexico. Conversely in the UK registrations were 47,654, almost 11 per cent down.
The return to profit did not come at the expense of future development – SEAT spent €586 million on investment and R&D, 28 per cent more than in 2014.