SpainSEAT stopped all three shifts in the assembly shop of line 1 at its Martorell plant on Friday 23 October and Monday 26 October, because of a supply problem with battery cells. Line 1 is the line dedicated to electric cars and builds the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID. Polo. The stoppage means roughly 1,900 fewer cars, according to La Vanguardia as relayed by Ara.
What stopped, and for how long
The supplier of the cells is PowerCo, Volkswagen Group’s battery subsidiary. Cells arrive at Martorell and are assembled into battery packs in a facility on the site with capacity for about 1,200 packs a day, an investment of about 300 million euros, El Nacional reports. The body shop of line 1 also stopped on the night of Thursday to Friday, but ran normally in the morning. SEAT describes the problem as one-off and expects normal operation to resume on Tuesday. The other two Martorell lines, which build combustion cars, continue as normal.
Why the stop could run longer
SEAT started building fully electric cars at Martorell in June 2026, with the Raval first, and line 1 is still ramping up. El Nacional says the stoppage could last longer than the company first expected because of that ramp-up and the demand for the cars. CCOO union spokesman Rafa Guerrero said there is no forecast for when the cells will return. Cupra has recorded more than 51,000 Raval orders since April.
Spanish outlets disagree on where the cells come from: El Nacional names PowerCo’s Salzgitter plant in Germany, while Mundiario, citing SEAT sources via Efe, names PowerCo’s Sagunto plant in Valencia. Earlier coverage of demand is in our report on ID. Polo orders.
