Cupra used to be the performance division of the Spanish Automaker Seat
The company is already in Mexico and parts of Latin America
The brand’s CEO says Cupra is aiming for the United States before being sold in China
During the recent launch of the Cupra brand in Australia, its CEO said his company is looking at a potential entry into the North American market.
Cupra is a new brand that is part of the Volkswagen Group. Created as a sportier line of Seat cars in 1996, Cupra became its own independent brand in 2018.
In order to expand its reach outside of Europe, the young company entered Mexico and parts of South America, as well as launching in Australia just last week.
Interestingly, the company’s CEO says Cupra will be prioritizing North America over China despite the latter being a very promising market for smaller automakers.
This is supposedly due to other VW Group brands such as Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda already being well represented there while Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche are its only brands sold in North America at the moment (with the exception of low-volume brands Lamborghini and Bentley).
No indication has been given as to when Cupra could launch in the United States or which model could be the first to be sold in the country.
The brand’s current lineup in Europe includes the Born, which is a rebadged version of the Volkswagen ID.3, the Leon, which is a relative of the Golf GTI, the Ateca, which is a small crossover similar in size to the Taos and the Formentor, the first model to be conceived specifically for the brand.
This last model is the most likely candidate for an eventual North American introduction, but the company also mentioned it has yet to make a decision on the subject, meaning that we might not see Cupra-branded vehicles on our streets after all.
