• The centre will offer healthcare and prevention services for 1,350 Volkswagen Group employees in its own space in Madrid
• Located in Alcobendas, CARS Madrid will begin operating in September and will be the second centre of its kind after SEAT CARS in Martorell
• SEAT and Volkswagen Financial Services remain firmly committed to the health of its workers and all employees of the Volkswagen Group in Spain

Madrid, 11/06/2020. SEAT and Volkswagen Financial Services have reached an agreement to launch CARS Madrid, an advanced medical facility with specialised health services for the Volkswagen Group’s nearly 1,350 employees in Madrid. Following the opening of CARS in Martorell in 2017, the creation of the SEAT Healthy Company Scientific Committee, the extension of the Joint Prevention Service to almost 20,000 Group employees in Spain and now the creation of this Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centre for its employees, SEAT is consolidated as a benchmark in health and well-being in the corporate environment.

The new CARS Madrid (Healthcare and Rehabilitation Centre), jointly led by SEAT and Volkswagen Financial Services, will be located at the finance company’s corporate headquarters in Alcobendas. The facility will have a room to carry out health monitoring through regular check-ups free of charge for all Group employees. It will also have a nurses’ station to provide assistance if necessary and a medical office for occupational medicine consultations. A physiotherapy and rehabilitation room with all the necessary equipment is planned in a second phase. It will also have direct access for ambulances and emergency services. These facilities will offer healthcare services (occupational medicine, nursing consultations, physiotherapy and rehabilitation) and health monitoring activities (medical examinations).

SEAT Vice-president for Human Resources Xavier Ros highlighted that “we have been committed to the health of our employees for years, from a comprehensive concept, beyond occupational medicine. The centre in Madrid is a further step in our vision of establishing a network of CARS that safeguards health and well-being, even more so in these times.”

Furthermore, the President of Volkswagen Financial Services in Spain Pedro Catena said that “with this new medical centre we’re taking a step forward in the care of employees, the prevention of illnesses and improving their quality of life. We also aim to foster studies at the centre to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle among our employees and the general population.”

The conversion and equipping of CARS Madrid will begin in the following days and it is expected to be completed during summer, with the aim of having it operational in September. All Volkswagen Group subsidiary company employees in Madrid (SEAT, Volkswagen Financial Services, Volkswagen Group Spain Distribution – which includes the Volkswagen Audi, Škoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Volkswagen Group Services, MAN Truck and Bus, MAN Energy Solutions and Volkswagen Group Retail – which integrates the Wagen Retail and SEAT Motor Spain dealers) will be able to start using the centre’s services from that date.

Going beyond the health of workers

Since its opening in 2017, the CARS centre in Martorell has carried out an annual average of more than 50,000 consultations to prevent and address health and welfare concerns of around 15,000 SEAT employees. In addition to its eight medical specialities, it has Spain’s first integrated biomechanics laboratory for occupational health. It is used to optimise the definition of workstations according to muscular effort and joint rotation.

Moreover, in recent years SEAT has extended its joint health services to the companies of the Volkswagen Group in Spain, with almost 20,000 employees who, in addition to annual medical check-ups, have access to the specialised services of CARS in Martorell and soon also in Madrid.

Furthermore, in parallel to the opening of CARS and as a corporate commitment to health, the company created the SEAT Healthy Company Committee, made up of experts from different organisations linked to health, such as the well-known researcher and epidemiologist Bonaventura Clotet, and scientists from Harvard University and the Hospital Clínic, who research health-related issues. The Committee recently presented MedCARS, a pioneering study that confirms the direct correlation between the Mediterranean diet, changing habits and improvements in some of the main health indicators. With this type of study, the company aims to provide society as a whole with tools to help improve its overall health.

SEAT has also made a commitment to health in the current health crisis with several initiatives to combat COVID-19. For example, in record time and using parts from its cars, the company successfully produced 600 emergency ventilators, which were sent to hospitals across the country at a time when resources were lacking. Furthermore, in line with this commitment to health, SEAT was the first company in Spain to carry out PCR tests on its 15,000 employees to guarantee their health and prevent COVID-19 infections as activity gradually returned to normal after the pandemic.