Spanish automotive manufacturer SEAT, one of Volkswagen’s mainstream brands will be attending the Guangzhou Auto Show in China and looks to expand into the Chinese market by opening 15 dealerships this year.

SEAT announced that 12 of the 15 dealership agreements have already been signed and that the remaining three are in their final stages of negotiations, with deals to be finalized within the next few weeks.

SEAT will target the most important cities in China first, with dealerships opening in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu and Chongquing. The Beijing dealership’s construction has already commenced. SEAT also announced that only their Ibiza and Leon will make it to China next year. SEAT has struggled in recent years, and their entry into China should give the brand a boost, considering its wealth of critical success.

[Source: LeftLane News]

Volkswagen will halt its practice of acquiring auto makers as a means of boosting its total sales volume, according a report by Bloomberg.

With Volkswagen in place to become the world’s second largest automaker, the company’s massive stable of brands, which includes Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Lamborghini, Audi and Bugatti, will remain static, with VW hoping to simply sell more cars.

Volkswagen has recently seen its alliance with Suzuki go down in flames, and has struggled to take control of long time technological partner Porsche.

[Source: Automotive News ]

Audi’s latest cute-ute (are people still using that phrase anymore?) is entering production in Spain, at the clip of 100,000 per year.

The Q3 will be built in Martorell, Spain, in a plant normally reserved for SEAT. Volkswagen recently spent about 330 million Euros in upgrading the facility in anticipation, and is betting big on the Q3: hopefully it can reclaim the crown of Europe’s favorite premium SUV away from the BMW X1.

“The Q3 production is an example of how we are making use of synergies within the Group,” said Frank Dreves, an Audi board member. “The Martorell factory is an extremely productive facility with a highly skilled workforce, and one that meets the exacting quality standards of our brand.”

The Audi Q3 starts in Germany at €29,900. Word’s still mum on whether handbag-dwelling chihuahuas will be glaring down the precariously close bumpers of left lane “hogs” on this side of the Atlantic.

At the 32nd International Motor Symposium in Vienna, Austria, Volkswagen head honco Dr. Martin Winterkorn announced that the Volkswagen Group will launch a range of plug-in hybrids starting in 2013, calling electric vehicles the “task of the century” for the auto industry.

Winterkorn didn’t specify which models would get a plug-in hybrid variant, and the move comes as slightly surprising considering how heavily invested Volkswagen is in diesels while offering comparatively little in the way of conventional hybrids. “The electric car will impact the future of individual mobility in crucial ways – and Volkswagenis spearheading this technology. Over the mid-term, the plug-in hybrid offers great potential,because it combines the best of two worlds in one vehicle,” said Winterkorn.

VW also released two diesel engines at the show, a 1.4L and 2.0L TDI engines, with the 2.0L meeting strict American emissions standards.

Volkswagen‘s Spanish subsidiary SEAT is preparing to take on the task of assembling Audi‘s Q3 compact crossover, at their plant outside of Barcelona.

The move comes as a bit of a quid pro quo for Audi, since SEAT’s Exeo flagship is a re-badged Audi A4, and with SEAT’s flagging sales presenting an issue for Volkswagen’s overall profitability, the excess production capacity could be put to good use building a product that will surely be a hit. The move will also add between 700 and 1,200 jobs in a region that has been hit hard by the global recession.

The Q3 will share a platform with the upcoming Porsche Cajun, but the P-Car will be built at a separate facility in Leipzig, Germany.

[Source: SEAT]

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Despite the misfortunes of the SEAT brand, Volkswagen is planning to bring the Spanish automaker to China, where the appetite for cars seems limitless.

Volkswagen is planning to erect a booth for SEAT at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show, and eventually produce the cars at its assembly plant in Foshan around 2013. SEAT has faltered recently despite offering a range of affordable compact cars with a sporty bent. The brand lost 311 million euros last year, despite a 0.8 percent gain in sales. There is speculation that Volkswagen will kill the brand if it does not become profitable by 2015.

[Source: Automotive News]

2010 was overall a very good year for Volkswagen, but it could have been even better if some of the other brands they own also made a profit.

While Volkswagen had the most successful year in its history, selling 7.2-million units globally and making 7.1-billion Euros along the way, its brands such Bentley, Seat and Lamborghini lost a whole bunch of money last year.

Their British luxury brand Bentley lost 245-million Euros, despite a sales increase of 11% over 2009. Development costs for new models is part of the reason for its poor financial standing.

Their Spanish family car brand Seat had also underperformed. While sales were up 0.8% over 2009, their operational loss amounted to 311-million Euros.

Their Italian supercar brand Lamborghini has been hit very hard due to poor economic conditions worldwide, and while an exact figure is unknown, their sales were down by 14%.  This resulted in a decline in revenue by 10-million Euros.

Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkorn however is still upbeat and feels things will turn around. How many of these brands will be in the black this year remains to be seen.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen‘s funky SEAT brand looks to be getting into the crossover segment, with several renderings of a new 3-door model leaking ahead of a planned debut at the Geneva Auto Show this week.

According to Autoblog Spanish, the IBX Concept will compete in the same space as the Volkswagen Tiguan, and while one could assume as much, it’s not yet clear if it shares the same platform or engine choices.

Most SEAT models are simply rebadged Volkswagens, although perhaps VW has decided to give its Spanish brand some much-needed originality, especially if it’s going to compete in the small crossover segment, increasingly occupied by some more original vehicles.

Look for more on the SEAT IBX with AutoGuide’s 2011 Geneva Auto Show coverage starting March 1st.

GALLERY: SEAT IBX

Although Volkswagen and their respective brands occupied a massive section of the Paris Auto Show’s main hall, they were a little light on new product. This won’t be the case at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show in early March, as the Volkswagen Group will debut 7 concept cars at Europe’s main auto show.

Details are slim at this point, but Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda plus “plus one – if not two – for Audi,” according to the Group’s design boss Walter de’ Silva, the man behind gorgeous designs like the Audi R8 and Volkswagen Scirocco. Guigiaro, the legendary design firm acquired by VW in 2010, will also display two concept vehicles.

Most concepts never see the light of day, but even if the models shown are a PR exercise, they should help further establish Volkswagen’s credibility in their quest to be the world’s number one automaker by 2018, a goal that they have spared no hesitation in promoting over the past year.

[Source: Automotive News]

Volkswagen is planning to spread the platform love with its new Up city car, with Czech subsidiary Skoda being the first VW division to get the tiny car, with a SEAT-branded version to follow.

Packaged as a three-door five-seater, a 1.0L gasoline engine and a 1.2L diesel engine will be offered, with an all-electric version to follow. Starting at less than $10,000, the Up variants will go against the Toyota iQ and other cars deemed too small for North American tastes.

With Skoda and SEAT representing downmarket brands for VW in Europe, giving them the minicars is a no-brainer, and we expect them to be very popular, especially in light of how a Volkswagen Golf is something of a luxury good in high-tax countries.

[Source: Inside Line]