What on Earth is CUPRA doing?

"Kar Wai Wong" (kingawesome467)
01/27/2020 at 12:14 • Filed to: Cupra, SEAT, Seat Leon Cupra, Seat Leon, León, seat ibiza, ibiza, CUPRA Ateca, Ateca, CUPRA Formentor, Formentor, brand, Brands, branding, brand identity

For those unfamiliar with CUPRA, it used to be SEAT’s performance division like VW’s GTI or Ford’s ST, and like most performance divisions of European manufactures that aren’t German, they specialise in hot hatches.

SEAT recently spun CUPRA off into its own standalone brand, as a performance brand for the enthusiasts, with it’s own new badge and everything. I’m not entirely sure why, considering SEAT is already positioned as the sportier option to the mainstream Volkswagens and sensible ŠKODAs, but whatever. However, their first model was this:

The standard version for comparison.

Mmmm, doesn’t that get the enthusiast in you moist? This is the CUPRA Ateca, a performance version of the SEAT Ateca. I’ve heard that the SEAT Ateca is one of the better driving crossovers in its class, and from what I could look up, the CUPRA Ateca is fine, but nothing special. It definitely doesn’t look very special either, with the only obvious visual difference being it has a tribal tattoo instead of a SEAT badge. It looks like an aftermarket styling package. Mind you, that this is the car that SEAT decided was worthy enough to start a new brand, to put CUPRA on the map, to show why you should take notice of this hip new performance brand.

Now if you’re gonna make a new brand you have to go guns blazing at the beginning. Genesis came out with a massive S-Class competitor to show they were not playing around. Tesla made the Roadster to prove electric cars, and therefore their cars were cool. The original LS firmly established Lexus’s place in the market.

I groan every time someone complains a company should make a sports car, which in these times are forever doomed to low sales, but I feel that if you’re gonna be launching a performance brand, you just have to start with a sports car. It doesn’t have to be fully bespoke or nothing. Mechanically the Polestar 1 isn’t much more than a hybrid Volvo S90 coupé, but it works. Just jazz up the Audi TT, or even a Porsche 718 with some new styling, or something. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and I get his point, but I can’t feel that it was a mistake, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Now they still sell the León Cupra, a holdout to when CUPRA wasn’t its own brand, but as you can see, they still have the SEAT badge, just copper coloured. Is the make considered a SEAT or a CUPRA? I don’t know. Well why isn’t branded as a CUPRA now?

Speaking at the launch of the new Cupra brand and the Cupra Ateca in Spain, Seat’s vice president for sales and marketing Wayne Griffiths confirmed that the Leon Cupra will remain a Seat. Giving it a re-brand would be “cheating” he said, as the intention is for solely Cupra-branded cars to be new vehicles. Simply swapping out the badges on an existing car isn’t exactly what the firm is aiming for.

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Oh really?

HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT?!

In fact, their racing Leóns are fully badged as Cupras.

But hey, at least they have a sweet new, smaller CUPRA Ibiza hot hatch coming out, along with a CUPRA Arona, a smaller crossover.

Both of these models are based off existing SEAT models. But still, hot hatches have been CUPRAs speciality in the past, so it’s nice to see a return to form for them.

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Yes, another crossover. No more hot hatches for you. This is the CUPRA Formentor (technically just a concept for now, but it’s not fooling anyone), and it’s just what we needed to bring more excitement into the CUPRA brand. Sorry, I don’t have anything against crossovers on their own, and I’m not against them making hot SUVs, but- Did Porsche start off making SUVs, before making sports cars?

But hey, at least it’s their first standalone CUPRA model, maybe they cancelled the Ibiza and the Arona to truly show that they’re gonna take their word and not gonna be glorified SEAT models from now on...

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Never mind...

It was pretty obvious this was going to happen when you look at that rear badge, with the square-shaped border for the SEAT badge.

Maybe CUPRA has just decided their whole brand identity will be fast SUVs. Hot crossovers are the new hot hatch, and CUPRA has decided to capitalise on that. Yet I can’t help but ask who the target audience is for these hot SUVs. The CUPRA name has barely any resonance with the average consumer, compared to say BMW M, or even Ford ST, so it’s hard to see them as aspirational. Most enthusiasts probably wont care for them, and if they wanted/needed a fun CUV, they would probably go for something like a CX-5, or a used Macan.

The CUPRA Tavascan concept, our first proper look at what CUPRAs design language looks like.

The only reason I can think of is someone who is buying a SEAT SUV, wanted the most expensive one, and liked the cool copper accents. CUPRA feels more like an upmarket brand than a performance brand. Heck, I think CUPRA would be way more suited as an electric brand. This whole thing just screams that SEAT has absolutely no idea what they’re doing with CUPRA, like they thought “W ow, there’s tons of new startup brands these days, let’s make one ourselves!”

DISCUSSION (6)

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Kar Wai Wong
01/27/2020 at 12:23

Obviously not a true enthusiasts brand, but I can’t blame them for trying to get sales first. Maybe better stuff will come later.

And I must say, that CUPRA Formentor looks properly good, I wish they had a good looking, reasonably priced, and probably decent driving crossover like that in the US

Svend > Kar Wai Wong
01/27/2020 at 12:43

I always thought the SEAT Leon Cupra should of been the first branded Cupra, not a flipping Ateca. SEATs version of a VW Tig uan or Skoda Karoq.

I also thought that maybe others were going to follow suit especially as it followed on from DS Automobiles own rebrand away from Citroen.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Kar Wai Wong
01/27/2020 at 13:10

As Audi considers shunting the TT due to age and slow sales...

Moving the TT over to Seat CUPRA with an exterior re-design and a bit of down-market de-luxury efforts could be good.

Although One would hope they would rather use VW BlueSport or Audi R4 concepts....

Then sell it as a VW-make CUPRA-model name or something in the US for more marketshare and economies of scale.

Ash78, voting early and often > Kar Wai Wong
01/27/2020 at 13:36

VW still considers SEAT as a “feeder brand” to Audi, so I suppose this is like Lexus—Toyota—Scion combination to attract Los Jó venes . Since that’s the goal of the whole world now.

And we see how well Scion did in the long run!

Klaus Schmoll > Kar Wai Wong
01/27/2020 at 14:49

At least they offer an Akrapovic exhaust as a factory option.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Kar Wai Wong
01/28/2020 at 03:21

no Cupra or Seat available here in Australia

oh well.....