- Volkswagen Group’s Spanish arm, SEAT, is set to begin producing fully-electric cars from its Martorell factory in Barcelona for the first time.
- Starting from 2026, the factory will produce two compact electric cars: initially the CUPRA Raval in 2026, followed by the Volkswagen ID .2all.
- However, the SEAT car brand itself has yet to see its own EV, all the while sibling brand CUPRA has launched an EV offensive. Will the SEAT badge be included in Volkswagen Group’s electrified future?
SEAT Martorell to produce EVs from next year
The factory near the Spanish city of Barcelona has reached a major milestone towards electric car production, after the first pre-series EV battery systems rolled off the production line. Body parts for the upcoming ID .2all and Raval have also begun pre-series production, in the lead up to the CUPRA Raval being produced at the site from 2026 – which will be its first EV, followed by the Volkswagen ID .2all.
The battery assembly line at the plant will produce 300,000 EV batteries a year when running at full speed, with that supply exclusively going to urban electric cars within the Volkswagen Group’s Brand Group Core.
For now, there’s no sign that the compact CUPRA Raval (likely to be the cheapest fully-electric CUPRA yet) will see a SEAT-badged spinoff. The last time we saw a fully-electric car under the SEAT brand was the Mii Electric, which was discontinued back in 2021. At the moment, all new SEAT vehicles remain either pure ICE or hybrid, and it’s unclear where SEAT will stand as a brand in an all-electric future.
In its home country of Spain, where SEAT carries significant heritage and brand loyalty, it would seem premature to kill the brand in an EV transition. Whilst we’ve seen no indication of the following yet, perhaps SEAT could survive through simple badge engineering for markets where the brand carries higher popularity – much like Stellantis’ Vauxhall and Opel strategy.
Markus Haupt, Interim CEO of SEAT and CUPRA, commented on the milestone:
“The assembly of the first battery systems in our new plant and the production of body parts on the new PXL press for the future electric models we will manufacture in Martorell is a key milestone in our electrification process.
This is a decisive year, as we continue to prepare for the start of series production of the Brand Group Core’s Electric Urban Car family in 2026, starting with the CUPRA Raval, with the vision of leading electromobility in the Iberian Peninsula.”
