Wayne Griffiths, CEO of SEAT and CUPRA, has decided to leave the company at his own request with immediate effect

[Syphon]

Wayne Griffiths, CEO of SEAT and CUPRA, has decided to leave the company at his own request on March 31, 2025 to pursue new challenges. Since his appointment as CEO of SEAT and CUPRA in 2020, Wayne Griffiths has played a decisive role in shaping the development of the CUPRA brand. Under his leadership, CUPRA became an independent brand within the Volkswagen Group and is now one of the fastest growing car brands in Europe.



A significant milestone during his tenure was the market launch of the brand’s first all-electric model, the CUPRA Born, in 2021. This marked CUPRA’s commitment to sustainable mobility and innovative vehicle concepts.




“Wayne Griffiths has done a great job in building the CUPRA brand and restructuring the company. His understanding of the brand is remarkable. He is, in the best sense, a true car guy. We thank him for his excellent contribution and wish him all the best for the future.”
Thomas Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Core...

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[Syphon]

Well this is a shock. What do we think about the future of the brands with Wayne's departure?

 

[tracktoy]

To be honest I think its future is more about what VAG want to do with Seat and Cupra in the new world of Tarrifs (both US and EU) and the Chinese brands who are looking to expand.

 

[Railwayman]

Apart from the ongoing tech reliability issues which are very much a VAG issue, he’s leaving on a high. Not easy to effectively create a desirable new brand in such a short space of time without the sort of backing that Chinese manufacturers enjoy. I appreciate that Cupra was already a successful niche badge, but I suspect he’ll command high consultancy fees!

 

[Tell]

Possibly he didn't get the job offer in the Vag group so said I'm out of here. Seat brand will slowly die, whilst the Cupra brand is priced out of most people's pockets so not a sensible thing to do, to split the brands. Cupra was the high end but they have killed Seat off on a slow death. Dealer networks for Cupra are thin on the ground. Perhaps it was a falling out about what they were going to do with Seat, whether there were going to be new models (rumoured) or have that slow death with ICE cars. Cupra EV made in China with EV tariffs after the other European group did the dirty. Issue there.

I'd be happy if BYD took over the Seat dealership. I quite like the Elrog as an EV. I can see Seat customers abandoning ship as the models die with the lack of EVs. That might have been his beef.

Note for @Syphon this part of the forum doesn't support mobile rendering I had to switch it into desktop on Firefox mobile / tablet. I had noticed this the other day on the news story side of the forum for comments.

 

[Syphon]

Possibly he didn't get the job offer in the Vag group so said I'm out of here. Seat brand will slowly die, whilst the Cupra brand is priced out of most people's pockets so not a sensible thing to do, to split the brands. Cupra was the high end but they have killed Seat off on a slow death. Dealer networks for Cupra are thin on the ground. Perhaps it was a falling out about what they were going to do with Seat, whether there were going to be new models (rumoured) or have that slow death with ICE cars. Cupra EV made in China with EV tariffs after the other European group did the dirty. Issue there.

I'd be happy if BYD took over the Seat dealership. I quite like the Elrog as an EV. I can see Seat customers abandoning ship as the models die with the lack of EVs. That might have been his beef.

Note for @Syphon this part of the forum doesn't support mobile rendering I had to switch it into desktop on Firefox mobile / tablet. I had noticed this the other day on the news story side of the forum for comments.

There is a weird bug we need to look at.. sometimes happens for me not always