Matías Carnero (Barcelona, 1968) assures that he will vote against the disappearance of the Seat brand if it is brought to the Supervisory Board of the Volkswagen group, of which he is a part. The president of the Seat works council argues that the Spanish industry cannot afford to lose a historic automotive brand due to the consequences for employment and the economy.
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Employment
“Without the models with the Seat brand, we would have far too many people”
Will the Seat brand disappear?
If the group does not remedy this and decides otherwise within a year, the cycle of the current combustion models we are manufacturing would end in 2029.
Why?
I already said it in 2022, the group has always had an unclear stance on the future of Seat. Since the time of president Herbert Diess, we warned that a country and a company were being lied to, and they were not clear when explaining these issues. Hence the confrontation I had at the time with Diess. This confirms that the consortium had a detailed plan years ago and now we are reaching its end.
So, is it not due to the global restructuring of VW?
This started many years ago, from 2020 or 2021 I already began to detect that when the Government was told that public aid was for electrifying Seat, it was not true. What has been electrified is Cupra.
What can be done?
The important thing would have been for someone from the Government to be on the Seat board of directors.
Why?
Because they have to be the guarantors of public money and the projects that can be developed there. Just as Lower Saxony is on the Volkswagen supervisory board. And with significant veto power and the ability to discuss issues of national and business interest.
Of the 3.3 billion invested in electrifying Seat, how much comes directly or indirectly from the administrations?
I believe they have put in more than half, including direct aid, indirect aid, Perte, etc.
Is that why they would have the right to participate in decisions?
Our duty as a company and as representatives of the workers is to demand that the Government talk to the consortium and see if there are more alternatives.
For example, electrifying the best-seller Seat Ibiza? Is it still possible?
There are always options. It would require investing a lot of money. Because it means completely changing a model.
Do you think the future of the Seat brand has not been sufficiently supported from within the company itself?
At the last Barcelona motor show, when we celebrated 75 years, the messages from the group executives were: Seat has a future, Seat has continuity. If at that moment they already knew it was impossible to electrify Seat, they were giving a misleading message. And I do not like misleading messages. When we talk about Seat, we talk about passion, we talk about how 76 years ago we put Spain on wheels.
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Almost half of what is manufactured here in Martorell is Seat brand. If the brand disappears in 2030, will 50% of the workforce be surplus?
We have not done the calculation, but we would have far too many people.
That sounds bad.
For us, the key is the second assembly platform. It would be a very serious impact for the Catalan and Spanish economy if we are not assigned a second platform.
What does that mean?
It is the possibility of being able to manufacture a car that is not currently planned in Martorell. There is no need to invent a new model, no need to have another car from the group. It is much simpler: for example, I have suggested why not allow the Cupra Formentor, created and designed in Martorell, to be manufactured in Martorell when it is electrified. The company cannot allow more Cupras to be manufactured outside than here.
If this situation becomes chronic and Cupras continue to be manufactured outside Martorell, could it impact the technical center or the design, marketing, and sales activity?
What we are trying at this moment is precisely that Seat does not become a mere assembly factory, like the Pamplona or Portugal plants. They are factories, we are a company. In Pamplona or Portugal, models, design, finances are not decided… However, at Seat decisions are made about commercial, after-sales, design, production areas. And the entire value chain, that is what is important and the value a company ultimately has. That is what we have to try to defend. We are the only company in the sector in Spain.
How is the Martorell factory currently structured?
We have a large factory with three factories inside: line 1, which produces the Raval and the ID.2; line 2, where we make the Formentor and the León Cupra; and line 3, where we currently make the Seat Ibiza and the Seat Arona.
If there is one electrified line and a second is aspired to, could Seat consider selling the third of these lines to a Chinese group?
I see it as complicated, because for that Volkswagen would also have to change a lot. Chinese capital and industry are eager to acquire factories in Europe to manufacture their own models.
And if that Chinese investor manufactured a Seat that could now disappear?
I see it as very complex, very complicated.
As a member of the Supervisory Board, you can vote no to the disappearance of Seat.
In fact, on July 9 I already said that my vote would be against killing Seat, obviously. I am not going to participate in killing my company.
