VW's Cupra brand weighs entering U.S. market with larger EVs

Cupra, Volkswagen Group’s sporty EV-focused brand, is starting market testing for a possible expansion to the U.S., Seat and Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths said.

The potential move is part of a push to add new markets for Cupra, which was once a performance-oriented sub brand of VW’s Spanish brand Seat but now has its own distinct models.

Cupra has started sales in Mexico and Australia, and it will soon add Colombia and Chile. Expansion to new markets will help Cupra reach its mid-term goal of selling 500,000 cars a year, the brand said this week in a release.

"As far as our ambition of being truly global, we are currently analyzing a possible entry into the North American market," Griffiths said Wednesday at Cupra's annual news conference. "At the moment, we are testing our brand with potential clients; we think Americans would love Cupra’s design and great performance."

The first results of those tests are very promising, he added.

Griffiths did not say which models Cupra might sell on the U.S. market. The current lineup includes four compact models: The Leon hatchback, the Formentor crossover, the Ateca crossover and the Born, a full-electric hatchback. 

Next year, they will be joined by the Tavascan, a compact electric crossover, and the Terramar, a midsize crossover. The Tavascan will be unveiled next month in Berlin.

Griffiths said in an interview with the U.K. publication Autocar that if Cupra enters the U.S. market, it will do so only with larger, full-electric models. 

"You need a car in the U.S. that's fit for the U.S. and electric," he told Autocar. "A U.S. electric car is generally bigger, so it will be a next generation of electric cars that would be based on the SSP platform from VW." That platform is expected some time after 2025. 

Griffiths said the timing of a U.S. market entry would be linked to Cupra’s move to an electric-only brand, which he has said will be by 2030. Cupra, as a new brand, also needs to establish itself in Europe, he added.  

"The investments for making cars ready for America are considerable, and I think we need to be stronger first in Europe and make sure we’ve done our homework," he said, adding that Cupra was seeking a European market share of 3 to 4 percent. 

Cupra’s market share at the end of February was 1.2 percent, according to industry group ACEA, a 60 percent increase from 2022.

The North American market has long been coveted by sporty European brands. The Stellantis group’s Alfa Romeo brand first effort ended in 1995, but it returned to the U.S. in 2014, first with the niche 4C coupe, then with the midsize Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover. The compact Tonale crossover debuted this year, and brand CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said in January that a large full-electric vehicle will be developed by 2027 to expand in the U.S.

Renault’s Alpine brand is also planning a U.S. expansion starting in 2027 or 2028. CEO Laurent Rossi said in January that the U.S. market will be crucial for Alpine’s ambitious revenue and sales goals. The brand has aspirations to sell two models in the U.S., a midsize full-electric crossover and a larger, similar model, starting in 2027 or 2028.

Cupra’s lineup will grow in the next two years with three new models. The Tavascan will be unveiled next month and will go on sale in 2024; it will be assembled in China in a VW joint venture factory in Anhui.

Also next year, the larger Terramar crossover will hit the market, available in both combustion-engine and plug-in hybrid versions. It will be built at VW Group's factory in Gyor, Hungary, alongside the Audi Q3 Sportback on which it is based. 

Griffiths said yesterday that the Terramar could be seen as a possible replacement for the current Ateca compact crossover, although at 4500 mm it is longer than the Ateca.

The most important new model will be in 2025 a small full electric hatchback, which has been previewed by the Urban Rebel concept.

The hatchback will be based on the same VW Group MEB Entry platform that will underpin the coming VW ID2. Both models will be assembled in Seat’s Martorell plant, near Barcelona, after an investment of 3 billion euros.