Foment del Treball has awarded SEAT President Luca de Meo with the Business Person of the Year Medal of Honour. The distinction, given every year by the employer’s association since 2007, recognises his leadership at the helm of SEAT as well as his strategic vision. Luca de Meo received the medal from Foment del Treball President Josep Sánchez Llibre at the celebration of the 12th edition of the Medals of Honour and Carles Ferrer Salat Awards, which the association gives to people and companies that have excelled in business.
Foment del Treball pointed to Luca de Meo’s professional career and underscored his leadership of SEAT, which has led to the company achieving the best results in its history, with sales of 518,000 vehicles and a profit of 294 million euros in 2018. Likewise, it emphasised his disruptive vision for using a new concept of mobility, connectivity and creative innovation to transform vehicles.
Speaking after accepting his medal, de Meo acknowledged the association for the award and pointed out that “SEAT is at its best moment today since its creation nearly 70 years ago, with record profit and sales figures. Our company is capable of generating economic and social value. We are the leading Spanish industrial exporter, the largest industrial investor in R&D, the leading carmaker and we generate 15,000 direct jobs, which rises to 100,000 if we factor in all indirect jobs.”
“We must work to ensure the car industry remains an economic and social driver”.
The President of SEAT emphasised the fundamental contribution of the car industry to the Spanish economy. “This sector is a key player for the country’s prosperity. The challenge we face in upcoming years is to keep the miracle of the Spanish auto industry going”.
Foment del Treball distinguishes the President of SEAT for his career.
In this sense, Luca de Meo underscored that “from now on we must work to transform a traditional sector into an environment that is multidisciplinary and flexible while maintaining its position as an economic and social driver. The new mobility ecosystem requires understanding and dialogue among the Administration, carmakers and business sectors such as energy and telecommunications, which have recently joined the automotive value chain.”
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The automotive world, Luca de Meo’s vocation
Luca de Meo has been the President of SEAT since November 2015. Born in Milan, Italy, in 1967, he holds a degree in Business Administration from Milan’s Bocconi University. With more than 25 years’ experience in the car industry, de Meo has worked for ten brands from four automotive groups and has participated in the launch of more than 50 models. Under his leadership, SEAT launched the biggest product offensive in the history of the company and achieved its best financial and commercial results.
Luca de Meo also chairs the Board of Directors of CUPRA and SEAT Metropolis:Lab Barcelona; he is the Administrator of XMOBA, SEAT’s mobility service subsidiary, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution, as well as the highest representative of the Volkswagen Group in Spain.
