Monocle’s editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, is joined by Wayne Griffiths, the CEO of Seat and Cupra, Spain’s innovative car manufacturer. From developing more sustainable solutions for urban transportation to new vehicle launches, we take a look at the next generation of mobility.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The vehicle industry is undergoing a transformation.
During the last five years, more changes have taken place than in recent decades.
My guest today is a man who's leading the charge for the Spanish car industry, with plans to electrify its factories and develop more sustainable solutions for urban transportation.
Wayne Griffiths is president of SEAT and Cupra.
He spoke to me from Barcelona, Barcelona to offer his insight on the next generation of consumers looking for mobility.
I'm Tyler Brulee in Zurich and this is the Chiefs on Monocle 24.
First, thank you very much for talking to us.
I wanted to maybe start, and let's start in the galaxy of the group, of course, the Volkswagen Group, of course, of which SEAT is a part when you have such a galaxy of brands at the parent level, for someone who is looking for a new vehicle, an additional vehicle, potentially.
Wayne, where does SEAT sit within the Volkswagen landscape and of course the automotive landscape in a broader sense?
Yeah, I mean, SEAT is our company name here.
SEAT stands for Sociedad Es Faniola Automobilis Turismo.
So the Spanish car manufacturer.
And as the Spanish car manufacturer, we have two brands, Seat and Cupra.
And strategically talking about the future, I would focus much more on Cupra and where Cupra sits in the portfolio of brands of the Volkswagen Group, particularly looking forward to the future and electric brands now.
The Volkswagen Group, in my view, and I've worked for the group now for over 30 years, a long time at Audi, has probably the best brand portfolio in the world with brands like Bugatti, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda, Ducati and many more.
So a great range of brands, but all of those brands are either premium prestige brands or heritage brands based on tradition.
And there is no new brand, new from scratch brand in the Volkswagen Group, contemporary brand.
And why do I say that that's important?
Because I believe there's a generation of young customers now coming on the market that are looking for brands, new brands different than those what their parents or grandparents drove or used.
And I think if the Volkswagen Group is going to compete against these new emerging brands, particularly with the disruption from combustion to electric cars, then they will need an answer to that.