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  • A decade ago Special: Seat turns 60

May 9 marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of Seat, the brand that democratized mobility in Spain. The launch of the Spanish Automobile Tourism Society (SEAT) was possible thanks to the agreement signed that day in 1950 by the National Institute of Industry, which had 51% of the 600 million pesetas (3.6 million euros) of the share capital with which the company started; seven Spanish banks that shared 42%; and Fiat, which licensed to replicate its cars, provided advice and kept 7% of the company. Here you can see the special that elmundo.es made on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.

The Seat was the first model to leave the Free Trade Zone

From then on, the construction of the factory began on the grounds of the Barcelona Free Trade Zone, which on November 13, 1953 finally produced the first unit of the model with which it was released: the Seat 1,400. Since then, the projection of Seat has been exponential; Today the cars that were originally made in one day are manufactured in three minutes, and from the two years that the waiting list came to be delayed to have a 600 in the 50s, it has become possible to buy the car online and receive it in less than 21 days thanks to the Fast Lane service.

In addition, it has also become the first exporter of the Spanish industry (with 3% of the total sales of our country abroad), something that seemed unthinkable when in 1965 a first shipment of Seat 600 left for Colombia.

During these 70 years, Seat has launched 75 models

During its seven decades of life, the brand has launched 75 models counting different body types and generations. And it would be unfair to leave many in the pipeline, although sales speak of an incontestable success of models such as the Seat 600 (appreciated in 1957), Ibiza (launched in 1984) and León (arrived in 1999). But the good reception of its models will be rewritten in new chapters of Seat's history: they will have to include SUV models, which debuted in 2016 with the Ateca and were expanded with the Arona and Tarraco. And also to an electrified range that has started with the Mii, the brand's first '0 emissions' model, and by 2021 it will have the plug-in Leon and Tarraco, in addition to 100% electric Seat el-Born.

The Formentor is the first 100% Cupra car

The Spanish company also took a small but important step when in 1996 it named the most powerful version of its second-generation Ibiza with the acronym Cupra (for 'Cup Racing'). That sporty variant gradually became a tradition that was transferred to other models in the range (Córdoba and León) and in 2018 it became a brand of its own to conquer a type of client who is looking for more sporty finishes and above all features more brilliant. And if the first models of the young brand continued until now to have the bodywork of their Seat 'brothers' (the Ateca and León), with the Formentor Cupra begins a more individual career, with its own external lines and interior design.

There are more changes that indicate the adaptability of Seat to current times: since 2019 it has launched to develop a type of collaborative and sustainable mobility through its Seat Urban Mobility program, which has led it to present the eScooter Concept (the Seat's first motorcycle, of course electric), the eKickscooter Concept and the EXS Kickscooter scooter. In fact, Seat has been designated as the person in charge of developing the Volkswagen Group's micro mobility systems.

There are more novelties that we could not have imagined a few years ago: one is the SEAT software center of excellence : CODE, a laboratory created in 2019 aimed at digitizing all brand processes and seeking new business models related to mobility, connectivity and digitization of the car. The other is Casa Seat, a multidisciplinary space that aims to become a meeting point for the world of culture and new trends.

Seat is today a company with more than 15,000 employees (in 1953 it had 925 workers) that generates about 85,000 indirect jobs. With Martorell converted into the factory in Spain that produces the most cars, the brand exported 81% of its business volume in 2019, representing 9,041 million euros of the 11,147 it invoiced. Of all this amount, last year it allocated 1,259 million euros to R&D investments, of which 27 went to initiatives aimed at reducing CO2 emissions at the Martorell plant, for which we want to achieve a footprint carbon 0 in 2030.

And as a last milestone, Seat wanted to leave one more sample of its commitment to society and the bitter drink that this crisis of the coronavirus is supplying. For several days and until they were not needed, he converted one of the Seat Leon assembly lines to produce emergency respirators that breathed oxygen into the ICUs of many Spanish hospitals.

The process involved 150 professionals who developed a prototype themselves, using gears, gearbox shafts, and the engine adapted from a Leon wiper to make up to 600 of those devices.

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