Seat's Haupt takes reins at Spanish car lobby Anfac, demands speed on EV plan and fair China competition

Leadership change

Markus Haupt, the German-born chief executive of Seat and Cupra, was unanimously elected president of the Spanish car and truck manufacturers' association Anfac on 19 June 2026. He succeeds Josep Maria Recasens, who left Renault Group to become CEO of the Spanish defense firm Indra. The handover continues a pattern: since 2018 the Anfac presidency has alternated between senior executives from the Renault Group and Seat, the Spanish brand owned by Volkswagen.

My main goal is to strengthen the Spanish industry to improve competitiveness. We must have the ambition to keep growing. If we do not act now we put our entire industry at risk.

Haupt, who is half-Spanish and studied in Barcelona, joined Volkswagen in 2001 and previously ran the Navarra plant in Pamplona. He became CEO of Seat and Cupra in October 2025, succeeding Wayne Griffiths, and is now the 16th president of Anfac. His initial term runs for two years.

Plan Auto 2030 urgency

At his first press conference in Madrid, Haupt stressed that the sector has been waiting for the deployment of the 'Plan España Auto 2030', a five-year strategy backed by the government that aims to mobilize 6 billion euros of public investment and 40 billion euros from private sources. He said the plan was something the industry needed "desperately" and that the focus must now shift from planning to execution.

It is time to pass from the plan to action.

One of the plan's first measures is a fiscal incentive scheme for electric vehicle buyers, announced in late 2025 but still not approved. Haupt noted there is still no concrete date for its rollout and vowed to meet with the Presidency, the Ministry of Industry and other authorities to push it forward. He argued that any aid must be easy to understand, with clear deadlines and limits, to give customers confidence.

Chinese competition and production

A central theme of Haupt's debut was the rapid growth of Chinese car brands in Spain. In 2025, 27 Chinese marques held a 10.2% market share, while domestic production fell from 2.37 million vehicles in 2024 to 2.27 million units, even as registrations climbed to 1.14 million.

They invited us 50 years ago to participate in their industry, and now we do not have to invent anything. They have to start manufacturing in Europe because it is the only way to guarantee fair competition between manufacturers.

Recasens echoed the concern, forecasting that Chinese brands could reach a 20% share in Europe if manufacturing capacity continues to erode.

Defense-automotive collaboration

Haupt revealed that the Spanish government has asked the automotive and defense industries to explore joint projects, given the need for additional productive capacity in the defense sector. He confirmed that several initiatives are being analyzed but stressed that no active negotiations are underway. Recasens, now at the helm of Indra, acknowledged that the two sectors operate at very different scales but argued that geopolitical tensions make it necessary to draw on all industrial and technological capabilities.

Recasens' warnings

In his farewell remarks, Recasens painted a stark picture of the industry's decline, stating that Spain had lost the equivalent of an entire factory and Europe the equivalent of ten permanently closed plants. He insisted that the only growth path for the continent is electric mobility.

The only vector of growth in Europe is going to be, like it or not, the electric vehicle.

He also championed 'Made in Europe' protections, warning that without them Europe would continue to sell cars but not produce them, and called for stable, realistic regulation that listens to industry voices before legislating.