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Volkswagen AG Chairman Ferdinand Piech has given up on his attempt to purchase Alfa Romeo from Fiat Auto, and now his company is determining whether its Spanish brand, Seat, has a future. VW has tried to reposition Seat as its Alfa competitor, a sportier brand with a slightly upmarket alternative to mainstream Volkswagen models.
This also recalls General Motors' charge to Pontiac general manager Bunkie Knudsen in 1956 to "fix or kill" the division. Knudsen pushed Pontiac upmarket and added some sportiness, saving the marque for 53 years.

Despite more curvaceous styling on its product than that of VW and Skoda platform siblings, Seat hasn't been able to shed its discount Spanish VW image. Skoda, meanwhile, has expanded production into China and is having better luck moving into new markets, and set a global sales record last year.

Seat has not had much success outside its native Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany. If VW determines Seat will not make any significant contribution to the parent company's plans to become the world's largest by 2018, the Spanish brand will probably be phased out within the next few years.