Time - INT (2022-05-23)

(Antfer) #1
Content by the Buzz Business

INNOVATION MOBILITY

Shanghai and Sao Paulo where I
have lived before,” says Powels.

“You can see this sp irit in the
genetics of CUPRA. We dare to
experiment, to push boundaries, to
off er consumers something diff erent.
That will be the key to success in
the car indust ry of the future.”

will launch an urban elect ric car under
its wildly successful CUPRA brand.

“It is an exciting time,” says Powels. “I
have been involved in project s building
new fact ories before, but I have never
had the opportunity to reshape an
entire supply chain. What we are doing
will guarantee the long-term future of
the automotive value chain in Spain.”

It is the CUPRA brand of high-
performance sp orts cars that is driving
the Barcelona-based carmaker toward
the elect ric future. Powered by the
success of st riking, youthful designs
like the Formentor crossover and
the all-elect ric Born hatchback, this
year CUPRA is expect ed to double
its revenue to around €5 billion.

For Powels the success of CUPRA is
test ament to the creativity, enthusiasm
and capacity for innovation that
charact erize both SEAT SA and the city
of Barcelona that he now calls home.

“The dynamics here are entirely
unlike the megacities such as

At a time of dramatic changes
to global car manufact uring,
Spanish carmaker SEAT SA has
appointed as head of its fi nance
and IT act ivities an indust ry
veteran with a depth of experience
in transforming companies.

For South Africa-born David Powels
the opportunity is the natural
culmination of a 33-year journey
at parent company Volkswagen, a
journey that has taken him to Germany,
Brazil, China — and now Barcelona.

“I have been through many waves of
transformation and reorganising,” says
Powels. “Wherever I have been, one
of my core tasks has been to help
make things fi t for the future. That
is the main reason I am here.”


“SEAT SA is transforming on all fronts. We
are planning a technology transformation
from conventional to elect ric cars. We
are transforming our positioning with
our sp orty car brand CUPRA. And we
are transforming our organization to
become more agile, more effi cient,
more robust and more profi table.”


The company’s transformation will
be powered by an invest ment of
more than €7 billion in elect rifi cation,
making it the single largest indust rial
invest ment in Spanish hist ory. As part
of an indust ry-wide plan that it has
christ ened “Future Fast Forward,” the
carmaker intends to build a giant batt ery
cell fact ory near Valencia. In 2025 it

THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING


JOB I HAVE HAD. IT IS AN


OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE


AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY.



DAVID POWELS, EVP
FINANCE & IT, SEAT SA

AN ELECTRIFYING IMPACT

Aft er a long career that has taken him to megacities such as Shanghai and São Paulo,
David Powels has come to Barcelona to help transform SEAT SA

CUPRA Born is the perfect match between
elect rifi cation and performance
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