It took Skoda more than a decade to sell 7000 cars in a year Down Under. Cupra wants to do it in three.
The sporty Spanish brand – which sits alongside Skoda, Volkswagen, and Audi in the Volkswagen Group – wants to sell 1600 cars in Australia in 2022, and plans to grow that to 7000 cars per year by 2025.
For context, that’s more cars than Land Rover sold here last year, and about as many as Renault did.
It also wants five per cent of the burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) market in Australia. The compact Born hatchback will be its first EV in Australia, but more will follow.
Beyond just sales numbers though, Cupra is putting a premium on brand building.
“The measure of success for me won’t be how many cars [Cupra] sells, or whatever,” Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths told Australian media.
“It’s whether we really hit a nerve with the brand or not, with the target group. With the young, next-generation car buyers – whether they think Cupra is a cool, desirable brand.”
According to Mr Griffiths, that 7000 vehicle target is reliant on growing demand for electric vehicles in Australia, where the technology is still finding its feet. The “second offensive” of products (detailed here) is also key.
“If we want to get to that level it assumes the electric market takes off in Australia, because without that we won’t have the base,” Mr Griffiths said.
Cupra Born in Australia
Australia is being pitched as an important market for the Cupra brand, which has bold global expansion plans.
Having debuted in Europe as a spinoff of the Seat brand, it wants to sell 500,000 cars per year worldwide in the medium term.
The first wave of products are currently rolling out in Australia. First Edition versions of the Formentor, Leon, and Ateca have sold out, and orders for the MY22 range are now open.
Locations for the first Cupra retail spaces (dubbed Garages) have been locked in ahead of their official opening in the coming weeks.
Cupra’s Second Offensive
Deliveries for most of the range will commence in August, with the plug-in hybrid Leon and Formentor to follow in September.
Come 2025, the brand will roll out three new cars in Australia as part of its “second offensive”. The Cupra Tavascan is an electric mid-sized SUV based on the Volkswagen ID.4, while the UrbanRebel is a compact electric hatchback.
The Terramar will be the last new Cupra model with power from internal-combustion engines.
At 4.52 metres long, the it will be larger than the current Ateca or Formentor. Instead, it’s likely to be dimensionally similar to the Volkswagen Tiguan, and will push the brand “upmarket to the hot spot of the SUV segment”.
