SEAT records best ever half year sales.

• SEAT registers 22,752 cars during the first half of 2013 – a new company record
• Record-breaking figure is 18.6% higher than SEAT’s previous UK half-year best, in 2012, and beats market growth
• SEAT second quarter sales (April – June) are up by 35% compared to 2012
• Company on course for a fifth consecutive annual sales rise
• SEAT has now exceeded 600,000 UK registrations since entering the market in 1985
• SEAT is celebrating an astonishing first half of 2013, with half-year UK sales figures that put the company well on course to smash its yearly sales record.

The 22,752 SEAT cars registered between January and June 2013, according to SMMT figures just published, are a half-year company record. The number eclipses SEAT’s previous half-year record, set in 2012, by 18.6%.

In addition, the 4,428 SEAT cars registered in June is a 29% sales jump compared to the company’s previous record June, also in 2012.

According to SMMT figures the UK market is buoyant, with June sales up 13.3% and half year sales up 10.2% compared to 2012 – yet SEAT’s figures trump both of those.

The sales spike can be attributed in part to the model offensive that SEAT has undertaken since the start of 2012, comprising the introduction of three brand new models – Mii, Toledo and Leon – and significant revisions to the Ibiza, including a new flagship Ibiza Cupra.

SEAT UK Director Neil Williamson said: “Within the last few days we’ve picked up the coveted Auto Express Car of the Year award for the Leon five-door, launched the stunning Leon SC in the UK, and broken our half-year sales record… we’ve had worse weeks.

“Between the Mii city car, the staggeringly spacious Toledo, and the all-new Leon family, SEAT now has a model range that’s broader and higher quality than ever. That fact, along with an ever-strengthening dealer network, is starting to show in our sales figures.

“And with further expansion of the Leon family due before the year is out, SEAT UK is on course for the best year in its history.”

SEAT’s 2013 sales to date are spearheaded by the Ibiza family, with 10,198 sold. The new Leon follows it in the sales charts, with 5,096 five-door models sold so far. The remainder of 2013 will see Leon sales augmented with the addition of the three-door SC; once the Leon family is complete, SEAT expects the SC to account for 17% of overall annual Leon sales.

Since 2008, SEAT UK has achieved consistent sales and market share increases, culminating in enjoying its best ever tallies in 2012: 38,978 and 1.9% respectively. In 2012 the company sold around 10,000 more cars than it did in 2008.