Volkswagen mulls SEAT car production in Czech Republic: report

German auto giant Volkswagen is reportedly mulling whether to manufacture cars under the brand name of its Spanish company SEAT in the Czech Republic. The daily Dnes reported on Thursday that the firm has plans to set aside part of the production capacity of its Czech unit Škoda Auto for such production with the possibility that SEAT brand cars could start to be manufactured within two years. No final decision has been taken.

The model for such production would probably be a large but cheaply equipped family car about the size of the current Octavia. The paper points out that production of ‘national’ models have already been transferred by other European car makers. But it adds that a move to shift SEAT production out of Spain will likely create uproar there because of the unemployment rate of around 20 percent.