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News - CupraMajor Cupra product offensive now underwayTwo new Cupra medium SUVs spearhead a range refresh while local arm mulls entry BEV 24 Mar 2025 By TOM BAKER FOR a manufacturer that has not even been established three years in Australia, Volkswagen Group marque Cupra already has a relatively broad range of four cars – although the current line-up of two hatchbacks (Leon and Born) and two smallish SUVs (Ateca and Formentor) have so far limited the Barcelona brand’s customer base.
The mix of petrol, hybrid and electric Cupras on the road to date have been sufficient to convince more than 7500 Australian buyers seeking sporty motoring into their first Cupra – but senior brand executives have been concentrating on building greater model choice, partially to reignite the passion of early adopters.
With the arrival in Australia of the new Tavascan – a midsize electric SUV and overtly sporty foil to the Tesla Model Y with VW Group cousins including the Volkswagen ID.5 and Skoda Enyaq – Cupra has fired the starting gun on a substantial product offensive that belies the Spanish marque’s relatively modest size.
To be sustained for seven months, the fresh metal rollout commences with the first customer deliveries of the circa-500km range electric Tavascan in May 2025 – just eight weeks ahead of the launch of a second medium SUV for the brand: the petrol and plug-in hybrid Terramar that is presently identified as the final Cupra with a combustion engine.
Furthermore, the brand is currently engaged in intense deliberation over whether to confirm the smallest and probably most affordable Cupra yet – the 4030mm long Raval front-wheel drive electric hatchback – to Australia.
Also on the agenda is a local call on an as-yet unnamed large SUV, though that car seems likely to come to Australia towards the end of the decade.
Both T-badged midsize crossovers are entirely new for Cupra in Australia, and both Tavascan and Terramar arrive on local shores just a few months after European customer deliveries kicked off – a remarkably short lead time by Volkswagen Group standards.
Australian buyers have in some cases waited upwards of three years longer than European buyers for new models.
Following the wintry arrival of the Terramar, however, the offensive will slow down slightly for the local launches of heavy facelifts to the Leon small car and Formentor small SUV, while hot hatch buffs will nearly be celebrating Christmas (or Nadal, for Catalonia enthusiasts) by the time the delayed Born VZ arrives.
Meanwhile, the conventionally shaped Ateca SUV will soldier on.
Despite Barcelona rapidly delivering new Cupra models to Australia, the suggested pace was felt to be too staccato with local executives making the call to slow things down a touch.
“Something our agents (retail operators) have spoken to us about is to roll them out responsibly in terms of timing,” Cupra Australia brand director Ben Wilks told GoAuto at the Tavascan launch in Adelaide.
“Each of these new models needs the right time in the sun. These are not delays from a factory perspective but rather structure and order, from our perspective.”
After Tavascan and Terramar deliveries kick off, the facelifted Leon hatchback will land in Australia in August or September. Similar in size to the Volkswagen Golf, the refreshed Leon packs a twist: the hatch will be joined in Australia by the Leon Sportstourer station wagon bodystyle, potentially giving Golf R estate owners Spanish refuge in the wake of the VW’s recent discontinuation.
In late September or early October, a similar facelift will hit our shores for the Formentor small SUV that is the brand’s current bestseller by a wide margin.
Cupra delivered 1265 Formentors in Australia across 2024, although the incoming Terramar is expected to challenge its dominance in Cupra Garages.
Multiple engine types will continue to be available on both the Leon and Formentor ranges, though Cupra has confirmed to GoAuto that both facelifted vehicles will drop the 140kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine used in base ‘V’ grades in favour of a more modern – and more modest – 110kW/250Nm 1.5-litre turbo four with 48-volt mild hybrid technology.
This change will mean that the cheapest Formentor specification in Australia will drop all-wheel drive in favour of front-wheel drive.
Commensurate with the shift to a smaller entry engine should mean about a 17 per cent improvement in fuel economy; European-spec Formentors consume an official 6.3L/100km compared to 7.4L/100km for the 2.0L AWD.
Further justification for delaying the Australian launches of the facelifted Leon and Formentor was aligning powertrain release dates.
“The plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) will launch in Leon and Formentor at the same time as the combustion engines,” said Cupra Australia head of product and marketing Jeff Shafer.
The final Cupra launch for 2025 will be December’s subtly facelifted and uprated Born VZ battery electric hatch.
Compared to the existing Australian-spec Born, which packs a 77kWh (usable) battery, plus a 170kW/310Nm rear motor, the VZ switches to a 79kWh pack and amps up outputs considerably to 240kW/545Nm, slashing the claimed 0-100km/h time from 7.0 seconds to 5.6s with a range of 530km (WLTP).
Altogether, the expansion of the Cupra range into new territory with a pair of medium SUVs that provide Australian buyers with a choice of petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains is as much about re-engaging existing customers as it is about securing new business.
“The thing that will be the most exciting for us is seeing Cupra customers come from their first Cupra to their next Cupra," said Mr Wilks.
“That is the opportunity Terramar gives us. There are people who will graduate out of the size of the Formentor. They need somewhere to go, and we will be able to offer them that,”
Conquests from other brands continues to be a separate focus, with no sign of Cupra’s aggressive retail campaigns tailing off.
The brand’s current zero per cent finance offer on the 228kW/400Nm Formentor VZx range-topper will continue for the time being, and is seen as a more appealing alternative to slashing prices.
“We are operating in a relatively aggressive market, but it is important for us to have a compelling offer that enables us to reach customers as they are and where they are,” explained Mr Wilks.
“It is important that we make an offer that is as strong as possible in terms of (price) to the customer but also works to maintain the residual value of the car for the customer and the brand.”
Cupra leadership continues to perceive that the marque is in a brand-building phase in Australia where volume will wax and wane as products arrive, and as local buyers build a level of affinity with the brand in the midst of an unprecedented number of manufacturers setting up shop locally.
Australian deliveries of Cupra models were down to 2339 in 2024 compared to 3765 in a blockbuster 2023.
“The concept has always been about establishing the brand in a far, distant market. To have the brand reputation, to have the network set up in a way that enables us to deliver quality to customers in the long term – that is really the big KPI,” said Mr Wilks.
“I think we are headed in the right direction.”
Naturally, building volume is a commercial goal: “There are three (volume) pillars in Tavascan, Terramar, and Formentor. These three cars will represent the biggest volume opportunities across the brand. That is key to being able to deliver Cupra in 2025, 2026, and beyond,” Mr Wilks said.
Pillars aside, Cupra executives are starting to consider how to appropriately top-and-tail the range by attracting younger buyers with a smaller electric entry point while adding a large electric SUV as a flagship with show-stopping design that could sit in Cupra Garage retail points as a halo car.
That mooted entry point is the Raval, which will be built (as will its battery) in a state-of-the-art new factory in Martorell, Spain.
Cupra was given responsibility for developing the underlying MEB Entry platform that will also underpin the production versions of the Volkswagen ID.2all and Skoda Epiq.
As has become tradition within VW Group, the Raval will be positioned as the sportiest of the trio.
Bringing Raval to Australia is “in discussion right now,” said Mr Shafer.
“EVs play an important role in the engine mix. Raval is also interesting because it is a very youthful product. It is a model that can be an entry point into the Cupra brand, and that is very exciting.”
If Australia could negotiate a sharp price for Raval, would Mr Shafer want it?
“Yes, for sure,” he responded.
At the other end of the range will be a two-row large SUV that may be positioned similarly to the Volkswagen Touareg.
The biggest Cupra was planned to be electric only – but with powertrain turmoil embroiling Porsche and Audi, perhaps the top-rung Cupra product will end up offering a choice of hybrid or full electrification.
Aside from the size, about the only thing known about the large Cupra SUV is that its industrial design will make some jaws drop.
“It is a long way off, that car, but it has to be really true to what Cupra means from design and drivability point of view. It is a cool and interesting possibility for us,” said Mr Wilks.
What’s coming from Cupra:
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