SEAT was founded Spain in 1950 with Fiat assistance. It is now a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The acronym "SEAT" stands for Sociedad Espa–ola de Autom—viles de Turismo (Spanish Society of Touring Cars).
Initially, SEAT manufactured rebadged Fiat models that differed very little visually from originals. The SEAT Panda (later restyled as SEAT Marbella) for example was little different to the Fiat Panda. Many Spanish families bought the SEAT 600 as their first car. This was based on the Fiat 600 and became a symbol of the Spanish Miracle.
It was 1982 before SEAT produced a car without Fiat involvement. It was called the SEAT Ronda and even this was a restyled Fiat Ritmo. This caused Fiat to issue a lawsuit against SEAT, claiming the car was still too similar to the Ritmo. The then president of SEAT, Juan Miguel Anto–anzas, showed a Ronda to the press with all the parts different from the Fiat Ritmo painted in bright yellow, ending the dispute.
Rumour at the time had it that Fiat was angry because the Ronda restyling was in fact too close to their own planned restyling for the Fiat Ritmo, which they had to scrap.
After the withdrawal of Fiat in 1981, the Volkswagen Group signed a cooperation agreement with SEAT, becoming the major shareholder in 1986, and owner of 100% of the company in 1990.
Today, SEAT has a sporting and aggressive image with cars like the Ibiza and Leon, which are popular with the younger generations.
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Whether you currently own a Seat or you are considering buying a model from
the Seat range, it helps if you understand insurance groups and how they affect
your premium.
Insurance group ratings take into account performance, security, damage and parts costs, new
car values, availability of body shells and repair costs and times. What you'll typically
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or have high repair or replacement costs. Just choose a model to check its insurance group ratings.