Seat will raise production of its Leon model by 21% in May to meet strong demand, workers’ committee member Merino Requena told just-auto on Wednesday.
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The Spanish Volkswagen unit plans to add an additional Leon assembly line as the existing one is at capacity, Requena noted.
The move hike daily output to 700 from 575 at Seat’s main factory in Martorell, Barcelona, Requena said.
Nearly 4,000 Leons were sold in January, making the car the fourth most popular model in Spain.
It is one of several fully redesigned models Seat has introduced in the last couple of years and its unexpectedly high popularity in its home market is a boon for struggling Seat which has recently cut production and axed 686 workers to survive a sales slump worldwide.
Now that the Leon is selling well, Seat is hoping it can meet this year’s target of producing 429,000 cars at Martorell this year, up from 390,000 in 2005.
Seat will launch its redesigned Ibiza in March and a longer version of its Altea crossover MPV later in the year, Requena added.
