SEAT is coming to China

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Spain is famous for its passionate football and bullfight, but henceforth, more Chinese people will know about Spain’s passion for cars. In April 2011, SEAT brand premiered in China at the Shanghai Auto Show. Four months later, SEAT Leon appeared on the list of Chinese official environment website which gave the impression Seat is not too far away, meaning buyers have not to wait too long for the Leon. Moreover, Ibiza, Altea, Exeo may also be imported in the future.

In Europe, the models of SEAT are always a little cheaper than Volkswagen’s cars, but in China, the imported Leon will play a role of high-end hot hatch. Under the hood, powerplant options include a 2.0 liter TSI engine with a 6-speed DSG gearbox and a 1.8 liter TSI engine with a 7-speed DSG gearbox, just like the domestically produced Passat and Passat CC. But the output parameters are unknown now.

The Leon’s price is not announced yet, but as an imported car from VW group, it cannot be reasonable. Most imported VWs are used to enhance the brand image, not to boost the sales, as well as the Leon. It may be priced around 200k to 300k RMB (18.5 to 27.8 Euros), between the domestically produced Passat and the imported Scirocco, which share the same powerplant.

Anyway, the importation of Leon is just a start of SEAT’s Chinese road. The core question is whether SEAT will be produced in China. Three years ago, I wrote an article and pointed out SEAT should be introduced to FAW-VW’s lineup ( in Chinese only for now). This view is not out of date today.

As a leader of the Chinese market, VW group really need some new models to expand the market further, since it doesn’t have a good differentiation strategy. No matter from appearance or product positioning, few people can distinguish FAW-VW new Magotan and Shanghai-VW new Passat. Additionally, New Bora and Lavida from the two joint ventures are also rivals each other. The logo attached on Skoda’s cars is not the VW, indeed, but the style and price of Skoda still have little difference from VW.

However, the design of SEAT is better for Chinese market. It is dynamic, passionate and fashionable, which are the young buyers want. What is more important, it doesn’t look like their father’s fossil like Passat.

Why SEAT should be introduced to FAW-VW, rather than Shanghai-VW? Because the latter has got VW and Skoda brands, while FAW-VW owns VW and Audi. Compared with Skoda, Audi is more unlikely to be a rival of SEAT.

The localization of SEAT has not been put on the agenda of VW group, but I think it is just a matter of time.