As the bonus of 1550 euros given to its workers guessed, SEAT achieved record financial results in 2019, maintaining a trend that began four years ago.
Thus, in a year in which it achieved yet another sales record, SEAT ended up achieving an after-tax profit of 346 million euros, 17.5% more than the value registered in 2018.
Operating profit grew 57.5%, rising to 352 million euros in 2019. Turnover, driven by the increase in sales, grew 11.7%, reaching a total of 11.157 billion euros. euros.
Carsten Isensee, President and Vice President of Finance and IT at SEATThe numbers obtained thanks to the teamwork of the entire organization place us in an excellent position. Last year's results provide a solid foundation on which to build the company's long-term future
invest in the future
Taking advantage of a year of record financial results, SEAT invested 1.259 billion euros in its investment program, mainly in the area of new model development.
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This value represents an investment increase of 3% compared to 2018 and is the highest value in the brand's history. Of this volume, 705 million (or 6.4% of the total turnover) was entirely allocated to the area of development and research.
Sales, the foundation of success
As you are well aware, the year 2019 brought a sales record for SEAT. However, the record financial results achieved last year were strongly influenced by these good results.
In case you don't remember, in 2019, a total of 574 078 SEAT models were sold worldwide , an increase of 10.9% compared to 2018.
Also in the field of sales, in 2019 the average revenue obtained for each vehicle sold rose 4.2%, reaching 15,050 euros per car (in 2018 it was 14,450 euros). This increase was largely due to SUVs, which accounted for 44% of SEAT's sales in 2019.
In addition to SEAT, CUPRA also achieved a sales record, having sold 24,662 units , 71.8% more than in 2018.
About the new brand, Wayne Griffiths, Sales Vice President of SEAT and CEO of CUPRA, said: “CUPRA is a strategic priority within SEAT (…) CUPRA aims to achieve a turnover of one billion euros when all models are on the market, and it will be essential to boost the company's operating margin”.
What to expect from 2020?
As with the entire automotive industry, 2020 is shaping up to be a year of great challenges for SEAT, despite the Spanish brand having achieved record financial results in 2019.
If, from the outset, issues such as Brexit, emission targets, the bet on new mobility solutions and investment in electric vehicles already proved to be challenging, the coronavirus pandemic made the scenario even worse.
Of this pandemic, SEAT President and Vice President of Finance and IT Carsten Isensee said: "The coronavirus pandemic precludes any reliable estimate of the impact on the global economy and performance of SEAT in 2020."
To this conclusion, Isensee added: “In this context, the implementation of measures to ensure liquidity will be of utmost importance as long as the crisis continues. When the crisis ends, the priority will be to return to normal production and sales as soon as possible.”
Razão Automóvel's team will continue online, 24 hours a day, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Follow the recommendations of the General Directorate of Health, avoid unnecessary travel. Together we will be able to overcome this difficult phase.