Cupra to be All Electric Brand by 2030

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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8th September 2021

Performance sub-brand of Seat, Cupra used its attendance at the IAA Munich International Motor Show to announce its commitment to become an exclusively electric powered automaker by the decade’s end.

While presenting is race inspired Cupra UrbanRebel Concept, CEO Wayne Griffiths spelled out the future powertrain strategy, saying: “We have the ambition to become a fully electric brand by 2030. We are launching the Cupra Born this year, the Cupra Tavascan will arrive in 2024 and the Cupra UrbanRebel will challenge the conventions of the electric era with its emotional interpretation of the company’s urban electric car, due to arrive to the market in 2025. We will be launching it first as a Cupra, as it is going to be the brand initially focusing on electrification while Seat will focus on hybridization and high efficiency ICE. We will monitor closely the acceptance of electric cars by the customers and the roll-out of infrastructure in Europe.”

The urban electric car is a strategic pillar for the company, Griffiths said. Both Seat and the Volkswagen Group will play a key role in developing the project. Seat is developing the cars of the urban electric family, while Volkswagen is developing the platform and CARIAD the software. The ambition is to produce more than 500,000 vehicles per year in Spain for different Group brands from 2025 onwards.

Based on this project, the company has a special plan in Spain, called Future: Fast Forward. The main driver of this plan is the production of the urban electric vehicle in Spain, which could become the engine for the transformation of the Spanish automotive industry, the second largest car producer in Europe.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_