Can VW turn Seat into a sports star? Despite its success with Skoda, Volkswagen's attempts to make Seat into a sporty car brand have, so far, failed to hit the mark. (News Analysis).

Marketing Week, October, 2002 by Lucy Barrett

Seat, despite its Volkswagen (VW) ownership, has struggled to carve out a unique positioning in the UK car market that shakes off its image as the standard hire car for tourists on holiday in Spain.

The German car manufacturer is no stranger to transforming car marques, having managed to change the perception of Skoda among UK consumers by pushing the brand attributes of good quality and value.

Its plan for Seat--a sporty and design-oriented image-was hatched more than five years ago, when its Cupra model was entered in, and won, the 1997 Formula II World Rally Championships. This achievement was formally recognised last December when VW split its car brands into two products groups: one led by the Volkswagen brand, the other by Audi. Under the new structure...