SEAT set to unleash the Leon on the booming car market

 

By Jamie White – Head of Communications

 

SEAT has officially launched the new Leon in Mexico, a move that will strengthen the Spanish brand’s strategy for international growth and profitability.

 

The market introduction of the car, in June, will consolidate SEAT among the ten best-selling brands in the country, after growing 60 per cent over the past two years.

 

SEAT has already grown by 8.5 per cent in Mexico during the first four months of 2013, having registered 7,360 vehicles – making it the ninth best-selling brand in the country.

In 2010, SEAT recorded a share of 1.7 per cent in passenger car retail sales in Mexico, selling 13,380 units. That number grew to 18,115 in 2011, and rose further to 21,114 last year, showing a pattern of consistent growth for the brand in the vital territory that is set to continue.

 

SEAT exports 83 per cent of its total car production and is present in 77 countries. That enabled it to grow worldwide by 11.5 per cent between January and April 2013, compared with the same period last year. In April SEAT sold 30,058 vehicles globally, 20.5 per cent more than in the same month in 2012.

 

SEAT has a network of 50 dealerships in the country, which will increase over the next few months.

 

The success of the Ibiza in Mexico is unprecedented, and SEAT wants to repeat that success with the new Leon, more than 25,000 units of which have been sold in Europe in less than six months.

 

The five-door Leon will go on sale in Mexico in June, with the SC following towards the end of 2013.

 

Both models will be built at the Barcelona Martorell production plant.

 

In Mexico, SEAT currently exports the three- and five-door versions of the Ibiza, the Altea XL and Altea Freetrack, the new Toledo and, to date, the second-generation Leon.

 

 

 

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