SEAT S.A. (English: /ˈseɪɑːt/, Spanish: [ˈseat]; Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo lit. Spanish Touring Automobiles Company) is a Spanish car manufacturer, which sells its vehicles under the SEAT and Cupra brands.[3] It was founded on 9 May 1950, by Italian car manufacturer FIAT in partnership with the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), a Spanish state-owned industrial holding company. It quickly became the largest supplier of cars in Spain. In 1986, after 36 years of being publicly listed as an independent automaker, the Spanish government sold SEAT to the Volkswagen Group of which it remains a wholly owned subsidiary.[4]The headquarters of SEAT S.A. are located at the company's industrial complex in Martorell near Barcelona. In 2020, annual production was over 468,000 units, with more than 427,000 cars sold in just one year, exported to over 75 countries worldwide.[5]Its headquarters and main manufacturing facilities are located in Martorell, an industrial town located some 30 km northwest of Barcelona,[6] with a production capacity of around 500,000 units per annum.[7] The plant was opened by King Juan Carlos of Spain on 22 February 1993, becoming the main plant and accompanying SEAT's assembly plant by the coast in Barcelona's free port zone (Zona Franca). A rail connection between SEAT's Martorell and Zona Franca complexes facilitates vehicle and parts transportation between the two sites.[8][9] [Wikipedia]
