Seat’s quality drive under outgoing boss Eric Schmitt is paying dividends. There’s been a 65% improvement in reliability between 2007and 2008, he told reporters at the Barcelona motor show today.
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In terms of customer satisfaction, the company has leapt from 14th to 4th place in the same period according to a recent survey, he said.
Later this month, Seat will start work on a new bodyshop at its factory near Barcelona which will be the production home of the Audi Q3.
Adding Audi production will create 3,000 new jobs at the plant and a further 12,000 in the supply chain locally, he said, and shows how highly Seat is now regarded within the VW Group.
But he said that manufacturing costs were still too high and the Martorell factory needed to become more competitive.
Seat’s version of the new city car based on the VW Up! concept will be built alongside the VW and Skoda versions in Bratislava he said.
Schmitt will be replaced in September by former Mazda Europe boss James Muir who, according to Seat insiders, will be tasked with sorting out the sales network and marketing in much the same way as he did for Mazda.
“Schmitt has sorted out our manufacturing; Muir’s job will be to concentrate on sales and marketing,” a Seat insider said.
