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Written by Sam Philip
Luca de Meo is the new boss of Seat. The 48-year-old Italian previously held top posts at Lexus, Fiat and Abarth, before joining the VW Group in 2009.De Meo has only been in the big chair at Seat for a month, replacing Jurgen Stackmann who headed to Volkswagen in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. Despite de Meo"s feet barely being under the table, he invited TG to Barcelona to share his thoughts on the future of Seat.Here"s what we learned from the new boss on the impact of Dieselgate, Cupra hot hatches, life within the VW Group and why Seat isn"t a Spanish brand at all.1. That the fallout from Dieselgate" won"t see Seat projects canned"There are projects already in the pipeline. You will see two completely new products for Seat, a compact SUV [arriving in 2017] and a mid-size SUV [arriving in early 2016], that are coming into one of the fastest growing segments in the European market."This will move us from a coverage of about 50 per cent of the European market to a coverage of almost 80 per cent."My job is to keep the foot on the accelerator and continue to do the stuff the way it has happened in the last two or three years. It"s working."2. We won"t see any moonshots from Seat. Which probably means no two-seat sports car"Seat learned to really focus on the things that are relevant. All the decisions that are made are pretty sensible for the brand."You won"t find us trying to do a crossover SUV cabrio with fuel cells. It"s a pity, but we can"t afford this. Maybe one day we"ll be able to afford the luxury to play around, but all the things we have been fighting for in the last year are necessary."We don"t have a lot of bullets at Seat, so we need to shoot them properly."
Date: 15 Dec 2015
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 670
Luca de Meo is the new boss of Seat. The 48-year-old Italian previously held top posts at Lexus, Fiat and Abarth, before joining the VW Group in 2009.De Meo has only been in the big chair at Seat for a month, replacing Jurgen Stackmann who headed to Volkswagen in the wake of the diesel emissions scandal. Despite de Meo"s feet barely being under the table, he invited TG to Barcelona to share his thoughts on the future of Seat.Here"s what we learned from the new boss on the impact of Dieselgate, Cupra hot hatches, life within the VW Group and why Seat isn"t a Spanish brand at all.1. That the fallout from Dieselgate" won"t see Seat projects canned"There are projects already in the pipeline. You will see two completely new products for Seat, a compact SUV [arriving in 2017] and a mid-size SUV [arriving in early 2016], that are coming into one of the fastest growing segments in the European market."This will move us from a coverage of about 50 per cent of the European market to a coverage of almost 80 per cent."My job is to keep the foot on the accelerator and continue to do the stuff the way it has happened in the last two or three years. It"s working."2. We won"t see any moonshots from Seat. Which probably means no two-seat sports car"Seat learned to really focus on the things that are relevant. All the decisions that are made are pretty sensible for the brand."You won"t find us trying to do a crossover SUV cabrio with fuel cells. It"s a pity, but we can"t afford this. Maybe one day we"ll be able to afford the luxury to play around, but all the things we have been fighting for in the last year are necessary."We don"t have a lot of bullets at Seat, so we need to shoot them properly."
Date: 15 Dec 2015
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 670
