Happy Birthday, SEAT 600!
Nearly 800,000 vehicles sold Happy birthday, SEAT 600! / The car that put Spain on wheels turns 60 / The 600 generated employment and developed a strong components industry in Spain / The Ibiza and the Arona, today’s stars in the urban vehicle segment Martorell, 27/06/2017. - SEAT is celebrating a milestone birthday. The first SEAT 600, the most important model for mobility in Spain, is 60 years old today. 27 June 1957 was the registration date of the first unit of a model that, until the arrival of the Ibiza, was the brand’s most iconic vehicle. Manufactured in the Barcelona Zona Franca factory, the launch of the 600 coincided with the inauguration of the SEAT Apprentices School. Today, 60 years and 2,600 students later, the company’s centre is still training future brand employees. Seven years after SEAT’s foundation, and following the launch of a model for the well-heeled class such as the 1400, the 600 was truly revolutionary. It was aimed at the country’s emerging middle class and soon became a runaway success. In order to fulfil such high demand, SEAT progressively increased production, going from 40 cars per day in early 1958 to 240 by late 1964. These figures, which were record-setting at the time in Spain, are a long way from the 700 Ibiza units that SEAT currently makes every day. From 1957 to 1973, SEAT sold 794,406 units of the 600. The starting list price of the 600 in 1957 was 65,000 pesetas of the time (equivalent to more than 18,000 euros today), three and a half years of the Spanish population’s then average salary.
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