Volkswagen Group’s ‘unconventional challenger’ brand Cupra has now landed in Australia with three models and already has plans in place to add even more variety in its line-up, but the Spanish marque is looking to push the envelope further with something new.
Speaking to Australian media recently, Cupra global boss Wayne Griffiths said the first step in the Spanish brand’s global expansion ambitions will see them lean on popular body styles – like the SUV.
“In the initial phase, we want to be successful in Europe and then in our first global step like here in Australia, so therefore we bet on the growing segment and the big growing segments, which are the SUV,” he said.
“In the SUV segment, an electric version of that is going to be huge.”
Launching with the Ateca, Leon and Formentor, as well as having plans to bulk out the range with the Born electric car, Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel in the coming years.
Arguably the flagship of Cupra’s current line-up is the Formentor – a jacked-up hatchback that has no direct comparison in the Seat line-up – but Mr Griffiths said plans are underway for a new top-dog model.
“If we want to be a challenger brand, don’t want to be boring, then we need to look at doing other stuff as well in the future,” he said.
“First of all, we need to be successful in what we’re doing at the moment.
“We have ideas, different body types – and there are different body types – but I wouldn’t want to say that we’re thinking about doing a whatever to give you your headline.
“There’s lots of different interpretations, but perhaps somebody needs to come out and do something new.
“We’ve seen the sedan, we’ve seen the estate cars, we’ve seen the shooting brakes, we’ve seen a lot, but there are other ideas within our design.”
Exactly what that will be is still unclear, and even Cupra design boss Jorge Diaz wouldn’t drop any hints to what is to come from the sporty Spanish brand.
However, Mr Griffiths said he has been fielding a lot of questions about a Cupra-badged ute – an idea which is not on the table, but something the boss can picture morphing into a sporty off-road model.
“The only thing is, don’t ask me about the pick-up,” he said.
“The more you ask this question, the more I start to think about. My initial reaction was ‘never, ever’ but the more I think about it, I could come up with something really sexy, emotional, sporty – it could be really cool.
“But what I like more is the buggy idea, and the buggy idea is something unique within the group even for Europe.
“We have a brand in the Volkswagen Group that does the pick-up well with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, they have the Amarok, and they do cool pick-ups.”
Keyword: Coupe? Shooting brake? Ute? What's next for Cupra, and why its new models will be anything but conventional