Software factories have multiplied in Barcelona in recent years. Dozens of startups and also multinationals like Nestlé have opted to install their application development centers in the Catalan capital. Seat joined this trend in 2019 with the launch of Seat:Code, a digital solutions development center that works for the automotive brand and for the entire Volkswagen group.
Last summer, Seat:Code opened a new 2,100 square meter headquarters located in the heart of Barcelona, in a historic building at La Rambla 124, owned by KKH and which in the past had housed the Hotel Montecarlo. The software factory occupies four floors of the building, where 150 professionals of up to fifteen nationalities currently work.
According to Seat's Executive Vice President for Finance and Information Technology, Carsten Isensee, in the last year Seat:Code has hired 85 experts in application creation, software, and digital transformation, a figure that is expected to continue growing. The automotive company highlights that in a sector with little female presence, 20% of Seat:Code's workforce is made up of women.
In 2020, Seat's digital transformation center in Barcelona has developed and delivered 33 projects for different clients. "For the first time, in addition to hardware, Seat has developed software," the company emphasizes. The most notable project brought to light by Seat:Code is the multimodal mobility platform that has allowed the group to launch the Seat MÓ shared scooter service in the city of Barcelona.
According to Seat:Code, this technological solution allows operating and managing vehicle fleets 100% digitally and can be commercialized to third-party companies once its effectiveness has been proven on the MÓ motosharing platform. The software developed from Las Ramblas adopts an advanced geolocation system and allows monitoring all vehicles in real time, managing user payments, making forecasts, and analyzing subscriber behavior.
In parallel to the hiring of external talent, Seat:Code has also drawn on Seat employees through a pioneering internal training program that has allowed five workers from the vehicle assembly lines at the Martorell factory to be trained in programming and software. These employees have joined Seat:Code and, according to the group, it is an "example of the labor and industrial transformation" that Seat will experience in the coming years, in reference to the reorientation of the Martorell center towards the production of electric vehicles.
Seat:Code was born in 2019 to drive the digital transformation of the Seat and Cupra car brands and to also make them a reference in urban mobility solutions, connectivity, and digitalization applied to cars.
In addition to the MÓ motosharing software, Seat:Code has developed the Mii Electric renting platform and the pre-booking platform for models such as the Cupra Formentor.