All About Cupra, a Spanish VW Brand That's Determined to Come to the U.S.

From the May/June 2025 issue of Car and Driver.Of the eight automotive brands under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, only Cupra has managed continuous global sales growth over the past six years. Once a performance subbrand of Spanish automaker Seat (pronounced SAY-aht), Cupra became its own marque for 2018 with the arrival of the Ateca, a performance-oriented sibling of the Seat Ateca compact SUV. Cupra sales in 2018 totaled a rather unremarkable 14,400 units, or roughly one-fifth the number of Seat Atecas sold.As Cupra’s lineup grew, so did its sales. Though the Cupra Leon followed the blueprint of its Ateca stablemate in being a more dynamically capable variant of a Seat model bearing an identical nameplate, Cupra—a name derived from “Cup racing”—soon differentiated itself from Seat with the addition of the Formentor, a small SUV with no Seat counter part. The battery-electric Born and Tavascan, as well as the Terramar compact SUV, soon followed, netting the nascent brand a total of four distinct models in what is now a seven-car lineup and helping it move a record 248,100 units in 2024—more than 17 times what it sold just six years earlier.CupraNow-former Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths says the electric Dark Rebel concept is “the perfect sports car” for the brand.”I often get asked, ‘Why is Cupra such a success compared to other [young] brands?'” says Wayne Griffiths, now-former CEO of Cupra. “One of the reasons is that we hit the ground running. We had factories, and we had a dealer network.”Whereas other newer automakers, such as Rivian and Lucid, had to find or build a factory and create a sales network, Cupra’s close connection with Seat and its place in the Volkswagen Group allowed it to use corporate infrastructure to build and sell vehicles in Europe, Australia, and Mexico. In launching Cupra’s U.S. operations, Griffiths is drawing from the same playbook that helped the brand succeed abroad. This includes plans to produce Cupras at the VW Group’s North American factories and set up a dedicated dealer network here.”I think we need to do a bigger SUV, but I also think we probably need to do a full-electric car,” Griffiths says about U.S. product plans. “I’d love to make the Dark Rebel, a fully electric sports car. That would be a great car to position the brand.” However, bringing a production version of the shooting-brake concept to fruition is not a current priority for the brand, which aims to bridge the gap between Volkswagen and Audi by emphasizing dramatic designs and an athletic pretense at a price point that reflects its place between mainstream and luxury. Sights are set on vehicles with volume potential.CupraTo achieve its high-volume goal, Cupra intends to use a traditional dealership model, avoiding the direct-sales method of other young brands, including corporate cousin Scout. Cupra aims to launch in select East Coast, West Coast, and Sunbelt states by the end of the decade and have a two-vehicle lineup in place within a year of entering the market. If all goes according to Cupra’s plan, it would see annual U.S. sales of around 100,000 units just a few years later. “The strategy has to be nailed right from the get-go,” says Robby DeGraff, manager of product and consumer insights at AutoPacific. “Especially for a brand with likely little to no brand awareness or recognition.”CupraBut Cupra will need more than just good products to establish itself in the U.S. “You have to bring your checkbook to succeed in America,” says Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power. “Certainly, being part of the Volkswagen Group means Cupra will have access to all its resources—and the learnings the company has about selling cars in this country.”Even with the financial backing and strategy know-how that Cupra can glean from its corporate overlord, the Spanish brand still faces major headwinds in its bid to win over stateside consumers. “The fact we were able to make it in Europe doesn’t mean we’re going to make it in the U.S.,” Griffiths says.Cupra CallingThe Spanish brand’s U.S. lineup may include one or more of these vehicles.CupraThe Terramar (center) is the latest addition to Cupra’s model line, which also includes (from left) the Formentor, the Leon hatch and wagon, the Ateca, the Born, and the Tavascan.Of the models in Cupra’s current lineup, the Terramar SUV and the Tavascan EV are best suited for the U.S. market. The brand assembles the former alongside the Audi Q3 in Györ, Hungary. Like the 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan built in Puebla, Mexico, the approximately $46,000 Terramar employs the VW Group’s MQB Evo underpinnings. A trio of turbo four-cylinder powertrains is available, one of which is a plug-in hybrid.The roughly $55,000 Tavascan shares its MEB platform with the Volkswagen ID.4 built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is available in 282-hp single-motor and 335-hp dual-motor forms.If Cupra builds a new larger SUV in North America, it could potentially use the PPC platform of the latest Puebla-built Audi Q5 or the MQB Evo platform expected to underpin the next-gen version of the Chattanooga-built VW Atlas.Despite their shared last name, Greg Fink is not related to Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s infamous Rat Fink. Both Finks, however, are known for their love of cars, car culture, and—strangely—monogrammed one-piece bathing suits. Greg’s career in the media industry goes back more than a decade. His previous experience includes stints as an editor at publications such as U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, Motor1.com, and MotorTrend.
Source: caranddriver.com