The Cenit VERDE project, headed by SEAT, wins award for contribution to environmental sustainability

• Capital magazine distinguishes Cenit VERDE for environmental benefits deriving from development of eco-friendly vehicle
• SEAT’s Technical Center heads research into sustainable mobility in Spain, in collaboration with companies and universities

The Cenit VERDE project, headed by SEAT, today won an award from the Capital magazine. The members of the jury thereby recognized the contribution made by Cenit VERDE to environmental sustainability through its research into the future manufacture and marketing of eco-friendly vehicles in Spain – mainly plug-in hybrids and electric cars.

The Capital Madrid awards are bestowed on the best ten initiatives, projects or companies which make a significant contribution to the city of Madrid’s maintenance and improvement of standards of quality of life such as health and well-being, a commitment to culture and sport as well as environmental sustainability. The Cenit VERDE project gained its award in the latter category, since it helps to make Madrid a more sustainable city from the environmental point of view.

Ramón Paredes, Vice-president of Governmental and Institutional Relations for SEAT and the VW Group in Spain, picked up the award on behalf of the companies and universities participating in the project. Paredes said that this award came as “recognition of the commitment of SEAT as well as all the companies and collaborating universities working towards more sustainable mobility”. He then added that “the Cenit VERDE project is an outstanding example of a public-private partnership so as to successfully tackle one of the great challenges facing this country, namely the development of an eco-friendly vehicle”. The award ceremony was presided over by Ana Botella, second deputy mayor and delegate for the Environment at Madrid City Hall.

The VERDE project was started up at the end of 2009 with the aim of researching and generating the know-how necessary to promote eco-friendly vehicles. The project will extend to 2012 and is headed by SEAT’s Technical Center, with the participation of 16 companies from sectors such as car manufacturing, infrastructure, electronics and energy (Cegasa, Siemens, Lear, Cobra, Ficosa, Endesa and Iberdrola, to mention just some) as well as 13 universities and research centres.

The budget for the VERDE project stands at 34 million euros, and is partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through one of the programmes under the National Strategic Consortia for Technical Research, or CENIT in the original Spanish initials. The CTM Foundation Technology Centre provides the administrative, technical and scientific coordination.

Committed to environmental protection

SEAT is an active participant in all those fields which today come under the heading of electromobility, ranging from the microhybrid vehicles in the Ecomotive range (in 2010 SEAT was sales leader in Spain in cars with emissions below 130g/km of CO2) to 100% electric cars and plug-in hybrids. As a result of this research, at the last Geneva Motor Show, SEAT unveiled its IBx, a plug-in hybrid prototype. At the Paris Show it presented the IBE, a totally electric vehicle which won an accolade as the best electric concept car.

In addition to vehicles, SEAT’s commitment to environmental protection also embraces its production activities. For example, over the past few months the company has brought into operation the first stages of its SEAT al Sol (‘SEAT in the Sun’) project. This project, generating power in excess of 10 Mw, is intended to transform the Martorell facilities into one of the largest photovoltaic plant in the automotive industry. Additionally, the company has also forged ahead with two rail transport lines linking the Martorell factory with Barcelona’s Zona Franca and Port, thus taking off the roads some 57,000 heavy goods vehicles per year. All told, the SEAT al Sol project and the railway links translate into a reduction of some 9,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

SEAT is the only company in its sector with the full-range capacity to design, develop, manufacture and market cars in Spain.  A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting approximately 75% of its production to 72 countries. SEAT is the market leader in Spain, and in 2010 reached a turnover amounting to 4.7 billion euros, with total sales of 339,500 vehicles.

SEAT Group employs 13,000 professionals at its three production centres in Barcelona - Zona Franca, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza and Leon, amongst other models. The Volkswagen Group production facility at Palmela in Portugal supplies the SEAT Alhambra.

The Spanish multinational also has a Technical Center, a ‘knowledge hub’ bringing together more than 900 engineers whose goal is to be the driving force behind innovation for the number one industrial investor in R&D+i in Spain. In line with its declared commitment to environmental protection, SEAT undertakes and bases its core activity on sustainability, namely reduction of CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, as well as recycling and re-using of resources