Sol, SEAT's new brand for China, with which the Spanish carmaker enters the Chinese market through the back door

The Spanish brand of the Volkswagen Group returns to the Chinese market supporting the new brand whose launch was just announced at the Beijing Motor Show. A clearly Latin name with deep Hispanic roots, SOL, has been chosen for the new brand, whose first model, the all-electric E20X crossover designed by SEAT, will be produced by Volkswagen in China under the agreement it has with its Eastern partner, the local manufacturer JAC.

There has been much speculation about the possible entry of SEAT into the Chinese market with a view to developing new models and electric vehicles by the German group, which in the long run could be exported to European markets once produced in China, where operating costs are clearly lower.

The new models that VW will produce in collaboration with its local partner JAC Motors will be developed and designed by SEAT in Europe, as has been the case with this E20X presented by the new SOL brand as its first production model. It is a fully electric rear-wheel-drive SUV, 4.15 m long, whose electric powertrain delivers up to 115 CV of maximum power and 270 Nm of maximum torque. To do so, it draws energy from 43 kWh batteries located under the cabin floor, exactly between the two axles. Thanks to this energy, the E20X can cover up to 300 km without having to stop to recharge and continue its journey.

The E20X is developed from the JAC Motors S7 platform and not, as might appear at first sight, from the Spanish brand’s new small SUV, the Arona, with which it does share a certain resemblance.

Speaking in Beijing, Jochen Heizmann, head of the VAG Group in China, said that SEAT confirmed the development of an E20X some time ago, and “if we think a little more carefully about this car and its design, there are many SEAT genes in it”. For the German executive, it is a truly strategic model for the Spanish brand. “The Spanish advantage is that it has a younger business, one that is new in China because of the distance (and because SEAT stopped being present in the Chinese market in 2015, prior to the development and launch of its current model range), but it still has an unmistakably innovative character that adapts very well to Chinese market tastes.

Since its departure, SEAT has tried to re-enter the Eastern market, but the Chinese authorities did not allow it due to problems with ownership of the brand’s registered name, and because the Asian country’s authorities insisted on the creation of a new in-house brand for this purpose, hence the name SOL chosen, which suits the Mediterranean designs of the Spanish brand so well.

To take part in the Chinese market, a foreign brand must create a Chinese brand in partnership with a local manufacturer. To produce models, the new brand must first sell units of the brand. For each vehicle sold it will then receive an NEV credit, which authorises it to sell ten units of its imported models. This could give rise to speculation about the early return of SEAT to the Chinese market with its own models, taking advantage of the strong sales boost it could obtain there. For brands such as Skoda have been selling there since 2005 and have managed to make China its first market on an international scale.