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April 24, 2014: SEATs best-selling model, with five million sold Giugiaro, deSilva and Donkerwolke among the car design legends with a hand in the Ibiza story

This coming Sunday (27 April 2014) will be exactly 30 years since the very first SEAT Ibiza rolled off the production line in SEATs Zona Franca factory. Since that day, the Ibiza has remained SEATs most iconic and popular car, with sales approaching five million across three decades and four generations.

The car was a game-changer for SEAT, the first designed and developed completely by the Spanish company from start to finish with a little help from some friends. Namely, collaborations with Giorgetto Giugiaros Italdesign design company, coachbuilder Karmann, and Porsche helped make the Ibiza a truly cutting edge small car, and the foundation of 30 years of ongoing success.

The very embodiment of the Spain of the 80s, the first SEAT Ibiza was ambitious, dynamic and ground-breaking. Its name, taken from the Mediterranean island, reinforced the exotic image given to it by virtue of its Spanish roots.

The backdrop chosen for the world premire of the SEAT Ibiza was the prestigious Paris Motor Show in 1984, and from then on the car has gone from strength-to-strength, achieving success both in its domestic market (it has been the best-selling supermini in Spain since 2001, for example) and abroad, with almost seven of every ten produced exported; 69% of 5,000,000 total Ibiza production has been exported to more than 75 countries worldwide.

The most important markets for the Ibiza during the early years were Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Portugal and Mexico, in addition to Spain.

SEAT will celebrate this resounding and continued success with the launch of a 30th Anniversary model, set to go on sale in June.1

History: the SEAT Ibiza and the Martorell production plant

SEAT ended the 80s with production and sales records, and became a member of the Volkswagen Group. Until 1993 the brands activity had been concentrated in the Barcelona Zona Franca, but its membership of a new group, the success of its new models, and the need to increase production meant that a new industrial production complex was required. SEAT would be provided with a new modern factory next to its Technical Centre in Martorell, opened in 1991.

The second-generation Ibiza would be the first vehicle built at SEATs new Martorell production facility. More than that, the establishment of the new factory would give rise to the creation of a suppliers industrial estate, which at that time comprised 20 companies.

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Iconic SEAT Ibiza turns 30 this weekend