Hispano Suiza is a historic Spanish car brand owned by four generations of the Suqué Mateu family. Hispano Suiza Fábrica de Automóviles S.A. was founded in Barcelona in 1904 by Damián Mateu with the support of the Technical Director and engineer Marc Birkigt, also a partner in the company.
Between 1904-1946, Hispano Suiza built more than 12,000 luxury performance cars and 50,000 airplane engines. In 2000, Hispano Suiza built a prototype luxury two-seat supercar HS21, which was shown in Geneva that same year. The K8 and HS21-GTS models, both evolutions of the first, were presented in 2001 and 2002.
Since it was founded, four generations of the Suqué Mateu family have preserved the family brand, injecting impetus and dynamism to maintain the significant heritage. On taking control of the company, Miguel Mateu – the son of the founder – continued the production of prestigious, top-of-the-range cars. After his death, his daughter Carmen Mateu was nominated President and she continued her father’s work, keeping the essence of the brand alive through a diverse range of activities including events, exhibitions, conferences, book and magazine publications, research articles, and participation in rallies. Today, Hispano Suiza is overseen by its President – Miguel Suqué Mateu – the great-grandson of Hispano Suiza’s founder.
Hispano Suiza is part of the Peralada Group, which represents the pinnacle of luxury in gastronomy and entertainment through its global portfolio of casinos, restaurants, hotels, golf courses, vineyards, music festivals, and marinas.
Next month’s Geneva Motor Show will see the world debut of the ‘Carmen’ – a fully-electric hyper luxe grand tourer from iconic Spanish luxury car brand Hispano Suiza. Named after Carmen Mateu, granddaughter of Hispano Suiza’s founder, the new model is the ultimate expression of classically-inspired design, next-generation technology, exhilarating power, and expertly-engineered dynamics.
Designed, developed and manufactured in Barcelona, the handcrafted Carmen is based on a super-stiff, hand-laid carbon fiber monocoque. This provides the foundation for the car’s exceptional luxury, comfort, innovation and attention to detail, which is uniquely combined with technologically-superior, fully-electric performance. While the new model takes inspiration from the Dubonnet Xenia, one of the elegant and luxurious vehicles built by Hispano Suiza in 1938, development and build of the Carmen and its custom-designed electric powertrain will be led by the company’s production partner, QEV Technologies.
Also based in Barcelona, QEV Technologies boasts a team of highly-skilled engineers with experience across design, engineering, R&D and production for Formula-E teams, supercar brands and mainstream car manufacturers. QEV Technologies has its foundations in motorsport with Campos Racing and is also the technology arm of Mahindra Formula-E Racing, plus the European R&D facility for Chinese firm BAIC.
