Chairman of SEAT Supervisory Board Francisco Javier García Sanz received the 11th edition of the Motor Leader Galería de El Mundo award

Chairman of SEAT Supervisory Board Francisco Javier García Sanz received the 11th edition of the Motor Leader Galería de El Mundo award

• “We want to democratize sustainable mobility, because it is an integral part of our DNA”, said the Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management responsible for Procurement

MADRID, 10-Oct-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — Francisco Javier García Sanz, Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management responsible for Procurement and Chairman of SEAT Supervisory Board was granted today the 11th edition of the Motor Leader Galería de El Mundo award, as recognition for his professional trajectory, which has led him to become the Spaniard with the highest position of responsibility in the international automotive industry.

García Sanz received the award during an event that was attended by the minister for Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, Álvaro Nadal, and by representatives from all major automotive groups present in Spain, as well as from companies from the ancillary industry.

In his speech, the Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management responsible for Procurement set the priority on “a more innovative, efficient and sustainable” future for the automotive sector. “Our clients expect us to reinvent ourselves to provide them with solutions that assist them in their daily lives. We must see that as a privilege”, he stressed.

In this sense, he pointed out that the electric car will play a key role in this transformation, although he also indicated that combustion engines will remain necessary during the transition phase, “at full development in order to adapt to the environmental needs and to successfully coexist with newer trends”.

Furthermore, he addressed the transformation process, in which the Volkswagen Group is currently involved, which aims at turning the corporation into “a more unified, committed, responsible and, above all, closer to society” business. “From Volkswagen Group in general and front SEAT in particular, we want to democratize sustainable mobility, which is an integral part of our DNA”, he emphasized.

Similarly, he highlighted Volkswagen Group’s commitment with Spain, a country in which it generates a turnover equal to 1.5% of the national GDP and employs 23,000 people. He also underlined the excellent performance of SEAT, which achieved its best financial results in 2016 and is now ready to enter a phase of growth.

“The Volkswagen Group believes in Spain”

“The Volkswagen Group believes in Spain. I believe in Spain”, García Sanz added. He also stressed corporate responsibility with regards to the entry of young people into the labour market, by quoting initiatives such as the Dual Vocational Training programmes that SEAT and Volkswagen Navarra have been developing for years.

In García Sanz’s opinion, Spain must maintain its leadership in tomorrow’s automotive industry. In that sense, he praised the excellence, the quality and the commitment of the Spanish supplier industry, “which undoubtedly constitute one of Spain’s pillars of success as Europe’s second and world’s eighth automobile producer”.

García Sanz thanked the Government, represented by the minister for Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda, Álvaro Nadal, for the continued support it has given to the automotive industry, “which we trust will remain strong in the future”. “Its strong and steadfast disposition is clear proof that the dialogue between our country’s public institutions and companies is a road towards success, both for our sector and for the Spanish economy”, he concluded.

Francisco Javier García Sanz was born in Madrid on May 6th, 1957. He is a Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management, where he is responsible for Procurement, which puts him in charge of a budget that totalled 166.5 billion Euros in 2016.

Additionally, García Sanz is Chairman of the Supervisory Board at SEAT, Volkswagen Navarra and Volkswagen Group España Distribución. He was president of Anfac between 2008 and 2012.

In April 2010, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit; in November 2013 he was named Illustrious Persona of the Spanish Automotive Industry by Asepa (Spanish Association of Automotive Professionals); and in July 2014 he received the Eduardo Barreiros Foundation Prestigious Personality Award in the Automotive Area.

Cristina Vall-Llosada 
Responsable de comunicación corporativa
SEAT
T/ +34 93 708 53 78
cristina.vall-llosada@seat.es

Eva Vicente
Directora de Comunicación y RREE
Volkswagen Group España Distribución
t/ +34 91 348 86 00
eva.vicente@volkswagengroup.es

SOURCE: SEAT, S.A.