Seat sister brand Cupra will finally put its first standalone model, the Formentor, on sale in the middle of next year, and new spyshots preview the final car’s design. As expected, the design stays wholly faithful to that of the earlier Geneva motor show concept, with the same profile and surfacing visible beneath this disguise. It’s the second production model to be badged a Cupra following the Cupra Ateca, and the first not to be based on a model from parent firm Seat. Cupra says the Formentor offers “the benefits of a performance car with the qualities of an SUV”. The Formentor takes styling cues from the Seat 20V20 concept shown at Geneva in 2015. As a coupé crossover, it also fits Seat’s vision for Cupra as a ‘premium performance’ brand, rather than as a producer of pure high-performance vehicles. The Formentor sits lower than most crossovers and features a sloping roofline, sharp sculpted lines on the side, a two-tone body and pronounced rear haunches. The front grille of the car takes cues from the Seat Tarraco large SUV, while the rear features a single LED light strip running the length of the car’s boot lid. While Cupra has yet to provide the Formentor’s dimensions, we know it’s lower, wider and longer than the Ateca on which it’s based in an effort to improve ride and handling as well as looks. . The concept car presented at Geneva features a 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine mated to an electric motor, providing a combined system output of 242bhp, and a WLTP-certified electric-only range of around 30 miles. The power is delivered via a dual-clutch DSG transmission. The use of a hybrid system such as the fits Seat’s plans to use Cupra as a ‘technological flagship’. Autocar understands a pure petrol version will be offered, too, but it’s not clear yet if this will come at the same time as the launch. The Formentor features the Volkswagen Group’s DCC chassis set-up system and differential lock along with progressive steering. Cupra says the system has been tuned so that it handles “majestically.” While no interior images have been revealed yet, Cupra says it features a leather-clad steering wheel and bucket seats, dark chrome trim on the dashboard, a digital cockpit and a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen. The Formentor takes its name from a peninsula on Majorca, following parent firm Seat’s convention of naming cars after Spanish geographical features. A production version of the Formentor forms a core part of Cupra’s plans to reach 30,000 sales within three to five years. The brand sold 14,400 models last year, a figure that includes Seat-badged Cupra models such as the Leon Cupra R. Cupra design chief Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos previously told Autocar that the new Formentor was “100% designed as a Cupra”, but added that “there could be Seat versions” of it in the
Origin: New Cupra Formentor hits the road ahead of mid-2020 debut
Cupra
Cupra Tavascan: emotive EV concept shown at Frankfurt
The front end of the Tavascan is designed to balance the desire for “muscularity and dynamism”, the company claims, with an exterior shape honed for range-boosting aerodynamic efficiency. The front end is also intended to create a “totally different focal point” from those of conventional combustion-engined cars, with an illuminated Cupra logo mounted low, below the blanked-out ‘grille’. A separate badge spells out ‘Cupra’ in a vent linked to the headlights. The rear is also heavily dominated by the lower portion’s styling, with a striking bumper shape mated to a steeply raked rear window line and full-width light bar, intersected by the Cupra logo. It is claimed each vent and slat on the body serves a purpose, either in allowing air to flow over the body or directing it internally to cool batteries. The model also sits on aero-optimised 22in wheels. Cupra claims the interior “mixes material and technological concepts with openness and focus” by the use of “contrasting colours, structural carbon and dynamic approaches to technology and design”. Leather, carbon and Alcantara are the dominant materials. There is a floating dashboard but a digital instrument cluster and 13.0in infotainment screen are the focal points. The 13.0in screen can be moved towards the passenger if needed and speaker and smartphone connectivity features are integrated into the seats. Cupra stresses that the Tavascan concept is designed to deliver “the performance, dynamics and drivability its customers demand”. To that end, it features a dual-motor electric powertrain putting out 302bhp, enabling 0-62mph in “less than 6.5sec”. The Tavascan uses the highly flexible Volkswagen Group MEB platform, integrating the two motors across both axles for all-wheel drive. The floorpan houses a 77kWh lithium ion battery, taken from the largest-capacity version of VW’s ID 3. A range of 280 miles is claimed. The brand predicts the electric SUV coupé market will grow by 15% every year and hopes to capitalise on that with future models evolving from the Tavascan. The listing of specs suggests there is some production intent here. Cupra has already shown the Formentor – also an SUV coupé but one with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains rather than purely electric – that’s due next year. Two more PHEVs are also on the cards for
Origin: Cupra Tavascan: emotive EV concept shown at Frankfurt
Cupra previews first EV with emotive Tavascan concept
Cupra’s first step into the sphere of pure-electric power is a dramatic-looking EV concept called the Tavascan, unveiled ahead of its public debut at next week’s Frankfurt motor show. Named after a ski resort near the French border in Catalonia, the Tavascan is said to marry “the presence of an SUV with the sleekness of a sports coupé” and showcases the evolution of Cupra design as it moves further away from its parent company, Seat. The front end of the Tavascan is designed to balance the desire for “muscularity and dynamism”, the company claims, with an exterior shape honed for range-boosting aerodynamic efficiency. The front end is also intended to create a “totally different focal point” from those of conventional combustion-engined cars, with an illuminated Cupra logo mounted low, below the blanked-out ‘grille’. A separate badge spells out ‘Cupra’ in a vent linked to the headlights. The rear is also heavily dominated by the lower portion’s styling, with a striking bumper shape mated to a steeply raked rear window line and full-width light bar, intersected by the Cupra logo. It is claimed each vent and slat on the body serves a purpose, either in allowing air to flow over the body or directing it internally to cool batteries. The model also sits on aero-optimised 22in wheels. Cupra claims the interior “mixes material and technological concepts with openness and focus” by the use of “contrasting colours, structural carbon and dynamic approaches to technology and design”. Leather, carbon and Alcantara are the dominant materials. There is a floating dashboard but a digital instrument cluster and 13.0in infotainment screen are the focal points. The 13.0in screen can be moved towards the passenger if needed and speaker and smartphone connectivity features are integrated into the seats. Cupra stresses that the Tavascan concept is designed to deliver “the performance, dynamics and drivability its customers demand”. To that end, it features a dual-motor electric powertrain putting out 302bhp, enabling 0-62mph in “less than 6.5sec”. The Tavascan uses the highly flexible Volkswagen Group MEB platform, integrating the two motors across both axles for all-wheel drive. The floorpan houses a 77kWh lithium ion battery, taken from the largest-capacity version of VW’s ID 3. A range of 280 miles is claimed. The brand predicts the electric SUV coupé market will grow by 15% every year and hopes to capitalise on that with future models evolving from the Tavascan. The listing of specs suggests there is some production intent here. Cupra has already shown the Formentor – also an SUV coupé but one with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains rather than purely electric – that’s due next year. Two more PHEVs are also on the cards for
Origin: Cupra previews first EV with emotive Tavascan concept
Cupra previews first EV ahead of Frankfurt reveal
Cupra will reveal its first fully electric vehicle, which it says will combine elements of a sports coupé and an SUV, at this year’s Frankfurt motor show. The Seat sub-brand, which is focused on premium performance cars, showed its first stand-alone car, the Formentor coupé-crossover, earlier this year. It will follow that up with the electric concept car, which will preview its first production EV. Cupra has released a single teaser image of the concept, which it says will unite “the silhouette of a four-door crossover with the presence of an SUV and the sleekness of a sports coupé”. It follows a teaser video, which gave glimpses of the headlight design. Although Cupra has not confirmed details of the new concept, it will be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB electric platform, which will be used for parent firm Seat’s el-Born EV. It is likely to be a more extreme version of that car. That would match how the Formentor, which will be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, is a heavily reworked coupé version of the Ateca SUV. When Seat turned Cupra into a stand-alone brand last year, bosses said it would act as a “technological flagship”, including in electrified powertrains. Cupra describes the new concept as “a vision of the future” of the brand. The EV concept has been termed a “high-performance vehicle”, suggesting it could get one of the most powerful motor options available for the new MEB platform – likely to feature a motor on each axle offering all-wheel drive. Although the teaser image only shows the rear of the car, Cupra says the front design balances “aesthetics and performance”, featuring a low-set illuminated Cupra logo. The rear will feature a functional aerodynamic diffuser. Cupra takes its name from Seat’s long-running line of performance models, although the brand has a wider focus on attracting higher-end customers who would not usually consider a Seat. That is why the firm has so far focused on SUVs and crossovers, starting with the reworked Cupra Ateca and the Formentor. Seat is aiming for Cupra to offer seven models by 2020, which will mix stand-alone machines with high-performance versions of Seat models, including the current Cupra
Origin: Cupra previews first EV ahead of Frankfurt reveal
Cupra Leon ditches Seat badge and goes hybrid for 2020
The first hot Leon to ditch the Seat badge for Cupra branding has been spotted at the Nürburgring for the first time ahead of the car’s debut in 2020. Telltale signs that this isn’t just another prototype for the standard Leon include a lower stance, enlarged front air intakes, bigger wheels covering enlarged brakes and twin exhaust tailpipes jutting out from the back bumper. Set to arrive less than a year after the standard Mk4 Seat Leon makes its debut – likely at September’s Frankfurt motor show – the Cupra Leon is also set to receive a plug-in hybrid powertrain option. Seat CEO Luca de Meo confirmed this at the brand’s annual press conference last month. “In 2020, the new generation of Leon will come to market in five-door and ST versions. It will feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain that will produce up to 245bhp and less than 50g/km of CO2 emissions,” said de Meo. “Just before the end of 2020, the Cupra Leon and Cupra Leon ST, both with plug-in hybrid versions, will arrive.” It wasn’t made clear whether the power output de Meo referenced did in fact apply to the Cupra, although given the figure is less than today’s hot hatchback and a PHEV version is likely to weigh significantly more, we’d expect a greater output to be extracted for a Cupra model. Also unclear is whether or not the fast Leon will adopt all-wheel drive, by using either the conventional Haldex clutch system of today’s model or an electrically powered rear axle. Last year, de Meo told Autocar that Cupra as a brand would be used “as a gate to bring technology that will cascade to the rest of the Seat range”. A fully electric Cupra is also under serious
Origin: Cupra Leon ditches Seat badge and goes hybrid for 2020
All about car 