Cupra could be offering its entire international catalogue in Australia before long, with executives confirming the wagon version of its Leon hatch is very much on the cards for our market at the launch of the Cupra Born hatch.
In fact, speaking to CarsGuide, Cupra Australia’s chief product planner, Jeff Shafer, said the wagon had been in consideration from the very beginning.
“Definitely, we have access to pretty much the full range. We didn’t do [the Leon Estate] at launch because we wanted to establish a baseline first, but we’re there now,” he said.
The Leon Estate would join the Leon hatch, which currently starts from $47,990 before on-road costs.
The three variant range consists of a base V 2.0-litre turbo (140kW/320Nm), sporty Golf-GTI-equivalent 180kW/370Nm VZ ($56,490), or plug-in hybrid 180kW/400Nm VZe ($65,990).
These trim levels are mirrored in the wagon variant overseas, which, like its distant Skoda relation, carries a roughly $2000 premium over the hatchback equivalent.
However, overseas the estate version is also available in a higher-performance all-wheel-drive version equipped with a 230kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine, setting it apart from both the Leon hatch and its Skoda Octavia wagon relation, both of which are exclusively front-wheel drive.
This would give Cupra a more performance-oriented offering to sit between these front-drive models, and the wild Volkswagen Golf R wagon.
It is unclear which variants the local division would go ahead with, but it would be unsurprising for the brand to stick with high-grade versions only.
Shafer also confirmed the plug-in hybrid version of the Formentor made up some 30 per cent of sales currently, so a PHEV is perhaps just as likely.
In fact, Shafer said Cupra was very much skewing towards enthusiasts thus far, as the brand had hoped.
“At a demographic level, it’s not exactly what we expected,” he said, talking about the average Cupra buyer. “But, psychographically, it’s pretty close. The first wave of customers are enthusiast types, and that’s reflected in the cars we’re selling. We’re now moving past that phase and are getting more broad interest. We expect it to change more over time.”
Shafer also confirmed the brand was on a “trajectory” to meet its bold prediction that it will be able to sell 7000 units annually in Australia. He said that goal looks achievable by 2025 as the brand’s line-up is fleshed-out, and it gradually attracts buyers from other brands.
Globally, Cupra is up by 93 percent year-on-year, selling 152,900 units, and its global marketing director, Kai Vogler, said it was a ‘conquest’ brand for the Volkswagen Group, with the majority of its customers having never purchased a VW Group vehicle before.
If and when the Leon wagon lands here, it will join Cupra’s current three-model line-up in Australia, with the next model to launch being the Tavascan fully-electric coupe SUV, which Shafer said he expects will arrive locally in 2025. This will be followed by the larger Terramar the same year, which will be the brand’s last vehicle equipped with a combustion engine.
Meanwhile, the T-Cross-based Ateca small SUV will reach the end of the road, with the brand confirming no replacement will be built. Its place will be usurped in the Spanish brand’s line-up by the Tavascan.
Post-2025, expect even more from Cupra, with the sub-Born Urbanrebel hatch confirmed for production, and perhaps even a production version of the Darkrebel sports car.
Keyword: The wagon is still alive! Cupra says 2023 Leon wagon on the cards for Australia thanks to encouraging brand results Down Under