The new PXL press installed in SEAT Barcelona involved an investment of just over 31 million euros and it will boost the productivity of this metal press compared to the previous ones thanks to greater automation and manufacturing speed, as well as an advanced robot system. A little over 25 million euros was also invested in two new hot stamping lines that will also help increase efficiency, speed and precision in the production process. In addition to this overall 57 million euro investment, in the past five years SEAT has allocated 6.5 million euros to improving, renovating and modernising the plant.

SEAT Vice-President for Production and Logistics Dr. Christian Vollmer pointed out that "SEAT Barcelona is a key factory for our company and these new facilities will enable us to position it as a technologically strategic plant for SEAT and the Volkswagen Group. The new metal press and the new stamping lines will help us increase our production output a 15%, close to 60 million parts."

The SEAT factory located in Barcelona's Zona Franca began operating in 1953 with the production of the brand's initial models, such as the SEAT 1400 or the 600, the car that put Spain on wheels. In 1993, vehicle production was shifted to the Martorell factory, and since then, the Barcelona facilities have been producing stamped parts such as doors, roofs, mudguards and cross bars. The 80% of the parts for the MQB A0 platform and most of the stamped parts on SEAT models are also made in these facilities. In 2018 alone, more than 52 million parts were made for SEAT, for different Volkswagen Group brands that were exported to 22 factories located in six countries.

END