► Markus Haupt officially named Seat and Cupra CEO
► Was initially interim boss after Wayne Griffiths’ departure
► CAR speaks to the new CEO
It’s official: Markus Haupt has taken over as CEO of Seat and Cupra, replacing Wayne Griffiths who left rather suddenly at the end of March 2025.
Haupt had been holding the fort as interim CEO of both brands after Griffiths left but has been officially sworn in by the VW Group board to take over permanently. He has 20 years in the car industry, having worked within the Seat brand since 2001. His career has spanned from setting up the Audi Q3 that was originally manufactured at the Martorell factory and has had a hand in VW Group platform development, working on the A0 architecture that underpins the Ibiza, VW Polo and Skoda Fabia.
In a statement announcing his new official role, Haupt says: ‘We are on the cusp of exciting changes, as we transition towards electrification. That’s a future I’ve always believed in, and it’s one that we will work harder than ever to achieve.’
Prior to his official appointment, CAR sat down with Haupt at the 2025 Munich motor show in September, where Cupra unveiled its Tindaya concept and confirmed more details about its new Raval supermini – so much so that Haupt confirms to us that the Raval will be the first of the MEB+ cars to launch in 2026.
‘Raval is the first car be launched in this family,’ Haupt tells us, ‘and it fits our DNA. It’s got striking design, electrifying performance inspired by performance… so from a positioning point of view it will be the most emotional and sporty car of this family.’ Haupt implies that the Raval will go one step further than the upcoming ID. Polo GTI, launching with sports suspension and progressive steering – as well as bucket seats inside.
Tindaya, by comparison, is large and designed to be in charge. The concept launched as a range extender using the new Scalable Systems Platform that’ll launch within the VW Group brands over the next few years, but Haupt confirms it’ll be a real car in the years to come. ‘We haven’t taken a decision on the powertrain for Tindaya, but it will for sure be on a future platform of the Group,’ he tells me. ‘I think the best decision for us right now is to keep things as flexible as possible. A REEV [range extender electric vehicle], maybe? Why not? Could be a pure EV. Why not? The car will come, realistically, towards the beginning of the next decade, so we have a bit of time to start developing the project.’
But where does that leave Seat? ‘We’ll have this year new Ibiza and Arona,’ he tells us. Properly new, or just another facelift? ‘It’s a refresh,’ he admits, ‘but it proves we’re still investing in Seat. We need to have both of these brands, because they present themselves to different customers – customers for both brands still exists in different markets.’
Haupt discusses how Seat can evolve over time beyond more facelifts for its current-generation cars. Like the rest of the VW Group, it will need to electrify – or at least decarbonise – given impending combustion engine bans still set for European markets. But, even as the Volkswagen brand, Skoda and Cupra are all spinning out models on the new front-wheel drive MEB+ architecture that’s designed to save costs, Haupt admits there isn’t yet elbow room for Seat to take advantage.
‘If there is a combustion ban and the only possible future is electric, the issue we have at the moment is that an electric car platform is an expensive one, and Seat is less profitable than Cupra – that was one of the reasons the Born turned into a Cupra,’ he tells me. ‘Today we don’t have a solution to offer a Seat on an electric platform where we can earn money. There will be a moment when an electric Seat will be feasible, but not right now. Until then, we keep refreshing our Seat models and keep them attractive for our customers.’
Haupt is quick to put our minds at ease, though, and tells us Seat won’t be on life support forever. ‘We have two babies, and we cannot say that one is nicer than the other,’ he says, ‘but we are exploring and will always be exploring the future of Seat.’
He also points out that it’s Spain that has taken the development lead in the MEB+ platform development, securing the brand’s positioning within the Group, as well as providing a big vote of confidence in Spain’s economy. ‘We’re making the biggest industrial investment in Spain’s history, 10 billion euros,’ he says. ‘Three billion of that is going into transforming our facilities that develop our cars, and more is being invested into Martorell. Spain is the second largest car manufacturer in Europe, so this is strengthening the country – not just the company.’