Seat's value for money in all its models seems to be recognised internationally, a fact that is reflected in sales, which are increasing. Thus, the Spanish brand, a member of VAG, is breaking sales records, reaching its highest level since 2001 and closing the half-year with an increase of 13.7%, the result of positive results in Spain, the UK and Germany. Increase byaγράφSeat is also in our country, which closed the first half of the year with 26% moresales than the same period last year.
Total sales of the brand increased by 13.7% compared to the same period in 2016 with a total of 246,500 cars sold (2016: 216,800), almost 30,000 more than last year. In June, SEAT recorded 45,200 sales, up 12.6% compared to the same month in 2016 (40,100).
Seat's vice president for marketing and sales, Wayne Griffiths, says that "in the first half of 2017 we achieved our highest sales in 16 years. We continue to make double-digit progress and have established ourselves as one of the fastest growing brands in Europe. Our growth is based on delivering solid commercial results in most markets, which are beginning to show the first results of the more aggressive product policy we launched in 2016 with the Ateca and continued this year with the new Leon. With the new Ibiza and the new Arona, we are confident that we can continue this positive development."
The brand's sales increased in the first half of the year thanks to excellent results in the major European countries. Spain led the growth with 54,100 sales (+21.2%), followed by Germany in second place with 48,600 sales (+10.2%) and the UK in third place with 29,500 sales (+20.5%). France (13,300 sales, +18.2%) and Italy (10,500 sales, +14.6%) are also among the countries that increased their sales by more than 10%.
Austria and Switzerland, two other Western European countries, also made a very positive contribution to SEAT sales. In the case of Austria, sales increased by 23.1% (total sales of 9,500), while in Switzerland SEAT recorded a significant increase of 52.3% (total sales of 5,300). In both these countries SEAT is one of the top ten brands. The boost in SEAT sales is also seen in other countries around the world. Mexico is SEAT's fifth largest global market (12,900 sales, +6.4%), Turkey is sixth (11,300 sales, +0.5%), Poland is ninth (6,000; +22.3%) and Israel rounds off the top ten (5,500 sales, +5.4%).
In our country, the first half of the year ended with a total of 1,095 registrations for SEAT. Of these, 476 were retail registrations, an increase of 26% compared to 378 in the same period last year. June was another positive month for the brand, recording a total market share of 2.5% with 252 registrations, compared to a retail share of 2.6%.
