Seat has inaugurated a new PXL press at its main plant in Martorell, Spain. The presses are currently being used to stamp parts for the current series models – and from 2026 onwards, they will also be used for the Cupra Raval and VW ID. Polo.
The press line, consisting of six presses, will be used to produce up to four million body parts per year for the upcoming small electric cars, according to Seat. After 40 months of development and construction, the facility is now operational.
Seat has invested heavily in the plant at its headquarters in Martorell for the production of the two small electric cars, the Cupra Raval and VW ID. Polo, for example, in a new battery assembly facility right next to the vehicle production line, in staff training and also in the modernisation of equipment and processes. The new PXL press is said to be ‘more efficient, more powerful and more connected’ than the equipment previously used for body-in-white production.
“Thanks to its 15 strokes per minute, we can stamp more parts in less time, with maximum efficiency,” explains Alicia Molina, Head of Production Process Development at Seat and Cupra. Tool change times are also significantly shorter, meaning that the press can be converted more quickly to other punching dies in order to produce different parts – according to Seat, up to 15 tool changes per day are possible. “By fully automating this process, we have managed to decrease the time it takes to change dies to just five minutes between finishing the last part in a series and starting production of the first in the next one,” added José Arreche, plant manager in Martorell.
Around 3,000 data points are recorded during each punching process. In future, this information will be used to make forecasts and thus optimise processes. However, this is not yet possible at the start of operation: the two systems that will evaluate these enormous amounts of data – one for production control and the other for maintenance – are still under development.
Seat PR has already described the development and construction of this enormous machine as an “industrial masterpiece.” “In order to withstand its 81,000 kN of force, the press sits atop a 9-metre-deep pit and 20-metre-deep concrete pile foundations, which is equivalent to the height of a 7-storey building,” writes Seat. “This required up to 40 months of development and construction works, involving many challenges in terms of coordination.”
It has long been clear that the Cupra Raval and the VW ID. Polo (known for a long time as the ID.2) will be built in Martorell. The camouflaged production model of the Cupra Raval was briefly on display at the IAA Mobility, while VW exhibited a near-production concept car of the ID.Polo. Preparations in Martorell have been in full swing for some time: at the beginning of the year, Seat relocated production of the Ibiza and Arona small combustion engine cars to line 3 at its Martorell plant near Barcelona so that line 1 could be prepared for the Electric Urban Car. In this context, the Spanish VW brand also announced that pre-series production would start this year, before switching to series production at an unspecified date in 2026. Pre-series assembly of the battery systems has also been underway since May, and the first test parts were stamped on the new PXL press at that time. The parts manufactured there are now also being used for series vehicles.
seat-cupra-mediacenter.com
This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.
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