Who Owns Cupra Car?

Are SEAT and Fiat the same company

The beginner’s guide to Seat Seat is a Spanish car manufacturer that was established in 1950. Unlike some brands which can trace their roots back to a single founder running a newfangled motorcar business from a tiny workshop, Seat’s birth was far less romantic.

1. The company was set up by state-owned industrial firm INI, with the aim of bringing mass car production to Spain.
2. The project had almost taken off in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, but with the end of the conflict closely followed by the start of World War Two in Europe, those ambitions were put on hold.

Seat – which stands for Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo, S.A. – finally took off in May 1950, and a partnership with Fiat was agreed in order to bring experience and know-how to the fledgling company. Its first car came three years later in the shape of the Seat 1400, and although it was built in Barcelona it was essentially a rebadged version of the Fiat 1400.

All early Seats were based on Fiats, and it wasn’t until 1963 that Seat would offer a car – the Seat 800 – that didn’t have an Italian equivalent. However, even this was just a long-wheelbase version of a Fiat-derived model, and another 12 years would pass before Seat could claim to have developed something – the 1200 Sport – entirely on its own.

The relationship with Fiat lasted until 1982, when Seat was sold to Volkswagen Group. The German multinational still owns Seat today, and as a result its vehicles are now based on VWs. : The beginner’s guide to Seat