9:15 am, November 24, 2011
SEAT president James Muir has revealed he wants the Spanish brand to emulate the success of sister firm Skoda.
Muir – formerly top brass at Mazda and Ford in Europe – said he felt the fact Seat hadn’t been able to match the heady heights of the Czech firm has been ‘tragic’.
‘They have done it with a clear vision and product strategy – and management who knew where they wanted to take the brand,’ he revealed.
‘Seat just hasn’t had this. I’ve been in this role for two years and new product cycles are seven to eight years so it takes time to change things. I’m working on it – just give me a chance!’
In an incredibly candid chat over dinner at the launch of the marque’s new city car, the Mii, in Barcelona, Muir also revealed how he felt few current Seats were hitting the mark.
‘The Exeo is limited compared to today’s offerings,’ he said. ‘It was a brave move to enter that segment, but was it the right one? Ibiza and Alhambra do very well for us, but do the others? I’m not so sure.
‘Our models absolutely have to hit the bullseye of their product segments, and we’re not quite there yet.’
Muir also revealed that the firm will make an SUV off-roader. Sister firms have done extremely well with theirs, including the VW Tiguan, Skoda Yeti and Audi Q5, but the Spanish firm has been left lagging behind.
‘We’ve been discussing sizes with the group for the SUV,’ said Muir. ‘We will definitely make it. It’s taken time because we’ve had to prove we’ve been moving in the right direction – the group has had to see the green shoots of success first.’
And those green shoots are sprouting. Seat is currently riding high in the UK with sales up 10 per cent in a market down five per cent. This year will be the brand’s third record year for market share too with 1.8 per cent of total UK car sales snapped up.
What makes that even more impressive is that this success has come off the back of a year of no major car launches. Next year will be different, though, with four new models arriving. Muir said we’ll see Mii, a new Ibiza, the next generation Leon and the return of the Toledo in 2012.
Muir said: ‘We will be targeting the French makers and Fiat for conquest sales. We build better cars than them and can steal market share from them.’
And the Seat president also revealed his plans for the Cupra badge. He said he felt it needed to appeal to ‘more women’ and get away from a ‘boy racer image’.
‘Cupra models need to appeal to more people,’ said Muir. ‘It needs a diesel offering in the line up and something matched to DSG to make it very exciting. We need to broaden the appeal but not dilute the flavour.
‘The products we’ve got coming will define our future. They will be about great design matched with German engineering. We haven’t got everything right in the past, but we’re working on that.’
