Cupra Was Planning on Launching in America in 2030. Now, Not So Much

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One_Ingenuity_m800@reddit

Would the brand name “VW CUPRA” sound better to a U.S. customer?

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I remember hearing a few months ago that Cupra said that they’re still trying to get into the United States by 2030 because they expected the auto tariffs to be gone by then. I guess they’re not so confident now with recent developments…

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aprtur@reddit

I thought it had more to do with Cupra being proposed as an EV brand in the US, and now when you couple that with questionable regulatory changes, the tariffs, and VW's overall "meh" EV sales in the US, it becomes a question of "would Cupra EVs even sell in the US?"

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FeemBleem@reddit

They ditched EV-only plans for the US and announced they would also sell ICE and PHEVs in America because they realized that the EV market was slowing down. I don’t think it was just about them being an EV-only brand in America, but I get what you mean.

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aprtur@reddit

Oh, interesting - I didn't hear that they were considering other options here, as well. I'd be curious to hear why they dropped the business case - it seems like their Mexican market vehicles would only require somewhat minor revisions to sell here, but I guess there's more to the mix that drove them of the idea.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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Meister1888@reddit

The early Ibiza Cupras had excellent handling packages for small mountain roads. They were a best buy for front-wheel-drive performance.

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KellerMB@reddit

Never heard of Cupra before, so I may be misjudging them as a "performance" brand when the only vehicle pictured in the article is a crossover SUV.

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Panda_Panda69@reddit

Well they make a better and faster Golf GTI, a cross over available with the Audi 5 cylinder, and a quicker and more exciting VW ID3, so yeah

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TunakTun633@reddit

> A crossover available with the Audi 5 cylinder 🤦‍♂️

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wkns@reddit

To be fair, it’s not much higher than an RS3: https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/audi-a3-2020-5-door-hatchback-rs-vs-cupra-formentor-2024-suv/ And this comparison is not with the vz5 that should be lower to the ground. It’s just a hatchback with large wheels and it drives pretty well compared to your typical rav4.

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Exact_Mastodon_7803@reddit

They’re a performance brand. Cupra used to be the “R” line of Seat.

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Egoist-a@reddit

>They’re a performance brand. Cupra used to be the “R” line of Seat. They are NOT. they used to be like a "RS" line of Seat. Now suposedly they are a Premium Seat (like Audi is to VW). Although I rented a Cupra Leon recently and didn't find it any more premium than a regular Seat Leon.

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Exact_Mastodon_7803@reddit

Fair enough.

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desf15@reddit

They were a performance brand. Now it's just a Seat with different badge. In first few years there was clear distinction and Cupras were offered only with powerful engines, now they're offered even with 1.5 150HP, which is pretty far from "performance".

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MachKeinDramaLlama@reddit

Cupra is significantly more expensive than Seat and offers better materials and features.

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TheWeinerThief@reddit

Fuuuuuuuuck I was waiting for them to get here

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strongmanass@reddit

Here's a wild idea. Just rebadge them as VWs. I don't see what profit there is to be had for Cupra before 2050 as they have zero brand recognition in the US.

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Kornaros@reddit

Aren't they already?

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Exact_Mastodon_7803@reddit

Actually Cupra is insanely successful; even I was shocked. They’re already selling more than SEAT! That was literally one of the best gambles VW has done in quite a while. But I totally agree that a simple VW rebadge / performance angle would work better; at least for the US. I think Cupra would work well for Canada but can’t imagine they do that just for Canada if not the US.

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Thomski_@reddit

I see the Cupra Born (ID3) and the Formentor quite bit here in the Netherlands, while I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a new Seat. I really don’t get Cupra as a brand, but that might be because i dislike the bronze.

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Skodakenner@reddit

Here in germany its the same almost no new Seats and endless Cupras but thats mainly because they offer insane leasing deals on them for companies so they are often used because of it.

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Panda_Panda69@reddit

Oh really? Here in Poland I see around the same amount of Seat Leons of this generation as the Cupra Formentors. Haven’t seen the Born yet, like, ever. Tho in fairness I see an ID3 rarely as well… we don’t buy EVs for some reason here

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Scazitar@reddit

To be fair, we haven't had a new ICE brand in a long time running in and going "Look were new, exciting, and Spanish!" Actually, probably would get a ton of attention.

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Panda_Panda69@reddit

“And we make a Golf GTI Clubsport, just better in every single way. Oh yeah and have you seen any of our products? They’re rebadged VWs, yet they all somehow are better than them!”

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MikeExMachina@reddit

I’ve heard of them, there are dozens of us! (Granted I also travel to Europe for work so that’s not really fair). A huge part of the Cupra *thing* is their styling, I can’t really imagine it blending in with the US VW line up.

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Imtherealwaffle@reddit

re-rebadged vw. not a bad idea though.

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7148675309@reddit

Sales of Seat and Cupra in the UK are about equal. That said there’s probably no point in both.

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okglue@reddit

>they have zero brand recognition in the US Was going to ask who lol

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Porshuh@reddit

Give Cupra Formentor VZ5

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FranknStein7@reddit

I swear I saw one in the states here recently. Maybe I was tripping. I rented a Formentor in Italy recently and was impressed. Good looking exterior and interior with nice amenities. What a weird name though.

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AwesomeBantha@reddit

They get them in Mexico, someone could have driven one up. I live like 25 hours from the Mexican border and see way more Mexican vehicles than you’d expect.

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vdiben99@reddit

I saw a Seat Leon in Ontario a few years back with Mexican plates on it. Very uncommon but it happens.

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hiperxpto@reddit

its short for cup racer, used to be a seat trim level akin to gti on vw´s, the rebranding was a cash grab, instead of selling you a seat leon cupra for 40k you can now have the previlege of paying 50k for the same thing.

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FranknStein7@reddit

As far as the name I was talking about ‘Formentor’. Makes me think of ‘foaming’ or maybe ‘fermenting,’ like foaming at the mouth.

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desf15@reddit

It's named after geographic place in Spain, like most of Seats used to be. In this case it's Formentor peninsula on Mallorca.

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waybeluga@reddit

Sounds like a car in GTA5.

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XCCO@reddit

I thought of fomenting with that name as well.

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vexx786@reddit

I saw a Cupra Leon too around LA earlier this year, it took me a minute to realize what it was.

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TunakTun633@reddit

So, to the Europeans that would have some context: Why the bloody hell is this brand succeeding so hard? And I don't just mean in terms of sales. Every time I read about them, it's basically that it's brand #5 that sells VW MQB variants - but perhaps there are a few actual buttons and quality materials that have been extracted from the VW. *And even the Audi.* Is the brand the baby of a particularly capable VW exec who's about five years away from being the next Piech?

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BulaBulangiu@reddit

As a european it's 99% the styling. People actually like how they look and around here it's "full" of Formentors running the 1.5L engine (can easily tell by the fake exhaust pipes).

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Egoist-a@reddit

I rented a cupra recently (Cupra Leon eTSI 150hp) and seriously don't understand what is this brand about. Doesn't feel any more premium than the normal Seat Leon.

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SnowLepor@reddit

Who?

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FeemBleem@reddit

SEAT’s Performance division turned into its own brand (that now outsells SEAT itself). Part of VAG.

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THE_GR8_MIKE@reddit

Just when Subaru made the Outback into an entire SUV, Cupra comes back with the original Outback.

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AwesomeBantha@reddit

What can they offer that VW can’t?

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DeviousMelons@reddit

Better styling and features.

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AwesomeBantha@reddit

features could be offered on existing VW models styling, sure

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lordtema@reddit

I fail to see them selling particularly much in NA. Even here in Norway, the majority of Cupras i see are Hertz owned Cupra Borns. Ive driven one and it\`s better value for money than the ID.3 is but people still seem to prefer the ID.3 because of brand recognition (and because of the online only approach Cupra has taken iirc)

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