Cupra unveils new models

CUPRA UNVEILS TRIO OF NEW MODELS AS SPANISH FIRM LOOKS TO DRIVE INCREASED SALES

• Cupra reveals two new SUVs and an electric city car • Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel will be released by 2025 • Firm hopes models will help push global sales to 500,000

by James Batchelor

@JRRBatchelor

Cupra has unveiled a trio of new models as it looks to build brand awareness in a bid to increase sales. The Spanish brand hosted a special event in its native country on June 7 at which it showed off two new SUVs and a small EV.

The three new additions will arrive by 2025 and will help push Cupra to a planned 500,000 sales worldwide.

First up is the Terramar SUV, which will sit above the existing Formentor to rival the Kia Sportage,

It will be powered by a range of petrol engines along with a new plug-in hybrid system. The latter, badged e-HYBRID, now delivers a longer electric range than previous systems fitted to the Formentor, at 62 miles.

It will be the first model to wear Cupra’s new design language of a shark-like front end as well as triangular-shaped LED dayrunning lights.

Arriving in 2024, the Terramar will be built alongside the Audi Q3 Sportback at Volkswagen Group’s Gyor factory in Hungary, and will be Cupra’s last combustion-engined car.

Launching at around the same time as the Terramar will be the Tavascan. It’s an all-electric SUV and is set to become Cupra’s second EV when it launches in 2024.

It will use Volkswagen Group’s MEB electric car platform, and with its sloping roofline it’ll rival sportier electric SUVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and in-house offerings such as the VW ID.5 and Skoda Enyaq Coupe iV. The Tavascan was

We know exactly where we want to go, and I promise you it will not be boring. Every single model we will bring to the market will be a step ahead on our journey.

The Cupra UrbanRebel will be released in 2025

Cupra unveiled the Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel models

revealed in concept form in 2019, and the 2024 production car differs only slightly in styling and packaging. Cupra is remaining tight-lipped about the technical details, but the original concept car used two motors packing a total of 302bhp, making the car more of a rival to the ID.5 GTX.

A 77kWh battery is the likely power source, thereby giving around 270-280 miles on a full charge.

Finally, Cupra has also pledged to build a new sporty electric small car named the UrbanRebel. Due to arrive in 2025, the quirkily named model will sit below the Born in the Cupra range and has been ‘developed for a more rebellious electric world’. Again, using VW Group’s MEB electric car platform, the UrbanRebel will be built with ‘advanced recycled polymers’ and ‘bio-based materials’. It’s likely the car, Cupra’s smallest model, will spawn replacements for the Volkswagen e-Up, Skoda Citigo-e and Seat Mii Electric.

The UrbanRebel will have a 223bhp electric motor, giving a 0-60mph acceleration time of 6.7 seconds.

Meanwhile, it’ll have a 273-mile range.

The three new models are part of Cupra’s heavyweight plans to expand its brand globally. It already has 200,000 sales worldwide to its name but is eyeing a 500,000-units target by 2025 and will double its dealer network this year.

At the event, Cupra also showed off updated versions of the Leon, Formentor and Born with revised styling apeing the UrbanRebel and two SUVs. The three updated models are set to arrive in 2025.

Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths said: ‘We know exactly where we want to go, and I promise you it will not be boring. Every single model we will bring to the market will be a step ahead on our journey.

‘We will stay true to ourselves and be authentic. This is the spirit of the Cupra Tribe. We’ll do this the Cupra way, like we always have. The future is electric. The future is Cupra.’