Volkswagen isn’t having the best time in the United States at the moment. While its sales aren’t terrible and Scout holds some promise, it’s struggling to sell electric vehicles and its newest one, the ID.Buzz, is arguably too late and too expensive. Despite Volkswagen’s electric future being uncertain, it’s decided to double down by potentially bringing a new EV-centric brand to the U.S., one that most American customers have never heard of: Cupra.
Cupra is the spinoff of a sub-brand. It started out as a high-performance model line for Seat, the Spanish automaker under the Volkswagen umbrella. There were some great high-performance cars with the Cupra nameplate, like the Seat Leon Cupra R hot hatch. In 2018, VW elected to break Cupra away from Seat and focus on its lineup around electrified, small crossovers. Of the brand’s seven models, only one called the Ateca is purely combustion-powered. However, Cupra isn’t just planning to enter the U.S. market by 2030—it wants to bring a range of models with all kinds of powertrains, including plain-old ICE.
Oddly, Cupra’s plans for U.S. distribution aren’t exactly clear. One of the models will be built at one of Volkswagen’s North American plants, but the brand hasn’t said where any others will be built. Cupra is also partnering with the Penske Automotive Group to help with distribution. Its official headquarters location and final U.S. model lineup will be announced at a later date.
Most of Cupra’s underpinnings come from its parent company, so you can expect any U.S.-bound models to perform similarly, if not identically, to their VW badge-wearing counterparts. However, Cupra has been separating itself with styling since it became its own brand, in an attempt to attract younger buyers. Thomas Schäfer, the company’s CEO (and indeed the CEO of VW’s global passenger car business), said at the LA Auto Show that its plan is working well, and even described it as “a very unique European phenomenon,” according to Automotive News.
But it seems Schäfer isn’t content sticking with Europe. While Cupra has already expanded outside of Europe, to Australia and Mexico, it hopes to grow further. “Everybody needs to grow somewhere, to have another leg to stand on, and Cupra is studying how to maybe get into other regions,” Schäfer reportedly told media in Los Angeles. “North America is one.”
At first glance, Cupra offering rebranded Volkswagens in the U.S. doesn’t seem like a great idea, given VW’s rocky position here. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be successful. Most customer complaints of modern VWs lie with their confounding user interfaces and bland styling. If Cupra can bring a shot of enthusiasm to attract younger customers—and many of its cars do look great—with better interiors, maybe there’s a chance those shoppers will get on board. Brands like Tesla and Rivian have proven that Americans are willing to give new, upstart brands a chance. Perhaps Cupra is thinking, “Why not us, too?”
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