“Our dream will come true: the CUPRA Tavascan will be a reality. Based on the MEB platform of the Volkswagen Group, it will be designed and developed in Barcelona and will reach Europe and overseas markets in 2024”
SEAT S.A. President Wayne Griffiths
This year, CUPRA will play a key role in boosting the company’s financial results. CUPRA’s forecast is to double its sales and more than double turnover, which in 2020 amounted to around nine hundred million euros. The CUPRA mix will increase the company’s total volume by five to 10 per cent.
In 2022, CUPRA will open operations in Australia as part of the brand’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
A dreamed car
At the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, CUPRA unveiled the CUPRA Tavascan Electric Concept, which represented its vision of reinvented sportiness. Less than two years later, the brand has announced that the Tavascan will be CUPRA’s second 100% electric model, following the CUPRA Born that launches at the end of this year.
Based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, the CUPRA Tavascan will be designed and developed in Barcelona and will reach Europe and overseas markets in 2024. Griffiths explained that the R&D team in Martorell is already working on the future series production car and engineers are being trained with new electrified skills to be ready for its development.
Reinventing performance
The CUPRA Tavascan Concept provides a unique vision of high-performance; the vehicle’s arresting design conceals an advanced all-electric powertrain that provides the thrill every CUPRA driver desires, with the celebrated quietness and efficiency the technology offers.
Such stimulating style made the CUPRA Tavascan Concept achieve first place in the international design competition’s Concepts category in the Automotive Brand Contest.
Target: return to profitability in 2021
COVID-19 temporarily halted SEAT S.A.’s positive trend of recent years and significantly influenced the financial results in 2020*. The company generated an operating result of -418 million euros (2019: 352 million euros) and a profit after tax of -194 million euros (2019: 346 million euros).
These results were expected given that its most important markets, such as Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy, have been some of the most affected countries in the world during the pandemic. The company’s sales followed the trend of the overall car market. Despite efforts and positive sales results when restrictions eased, it sold 427,000 units, 25.6 per cent fewer than the previous year (2019: 574,100 cars).
The slowdown in sales volumes translated into lower turnover, which decelerated to 8,784 million euros, down 21 per cent compared with the previous year (2019: 11,157 million euros). Operating result was further negatively impacted by emissions-related expenses of over 260 million euros.
“Our goal is to increase sales and recover our volumes to pre-COVID levels. In 2021 we must return to profitability. This is our financial target. We’re working hard to be in black as soon as possible.
Key levers to achieve profitability in 2021 will be an increase in the PHEV (plug in hybrid electric vehicle) mix and the launch of the fully electric CUPRA Born, which will enable us to achieve our CO2 targets. On top of this, we will put our attention on reducing overheads and on revenue management, by focusing on the most important markets and channels”.
SEAT S.A. President Wayne Griffiths
CUPRA’s performance was remarkable with 27,400 cars sold in 2020, reaching double-digit growth of 11 per cent versus 2019, and being one of the very few brands to grow in Europe during the COVID-19 crisis. Since the creation of the brand in 2018, CUPRA has sold more than 70,000 cars, exceeding all expectations.
2020 also yielded positive results. EBITDA (Earnings before Interests, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) amounted to 157 million euros with a ratio of 1.8 per cent of sales.
“This is an indicator that our business is robust despite the bad results in 2020. We have the foundations to go back to the positive figures of the past years”
SEAT S.A. Executive Vice-President for Finance & IT, Carsten Isensee
SEAT S.A. maintained its investment level of recent years, dedicating more than one billion euros to investments and R&D expenses in 2020. This is the third year in a row with more than one billion euros has been invested. This level will be maintained soon with the investment plan of 5 billion euros until 2025 announced in July 2020.
Operating cash flow was positive in 2020, with 466 million euros generated.
“This figure represents an achievement in the context of the economic and health crisis caused by the pandemic and is a cornerstone to realise our ambitious strategic plans. We continue to prepare for the challenges set by the automotive sector’s technological transformation, for which we must maintain the investment momentum carried out over the last years”.
SEAT S.A. Executive Vice-President for Finance & IT, Carsten Isensee
