Cupra boss hints at new electric sports car

The boss of VW’s Spanish brand Cupra has hinted at a future sports car that would add to its selection of sporty SUVs and hatchbacks.

CEO Wayne Griffiths revealed the potential plan during a phone call with Australian media ahead of the April launch of the Cupra Born electric hatch.

The revelation came as Griffiths was asked about future product that might be inspired by the brand’s planned launch in the US.

“A lot of manufacturers have made the mistake of taking European cars and trying to make them work in America,” said Griffiths. “To get it right you need a big car; it would have to be an SUV because that is what the US customers want.

“We're not looking at a pickup as VW has just announced the Scout brand so that is something they will be doing. Any car we take to the US would probably also be a great car for Australia; [it wouldn't be LHD only] it would be a global product.”

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“[A ute] is not our priority in this [Australian] market. Any car we bring has to be in line with our brand and our brand DNA. So I'm sorry I can't promise you a ute, but as I understand it Australians also love their sports cars.

“If we bring additional cars, and by that I mean new models, it would be based on a sports car for the future.”

Griffiths shut down further questions on the sports car, claiming he would get into trouble otherwise.

A Volkswagen version of the sports car would seem inevitable to justify the business case for what has become a particularly niche vehicle type.

Toyota and Subaru (86/BRZ) and Toyota and BMW (Supra/Z4) are two sports car partnerships running, though Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen are all part of the vast VW Group empire sharing a significant number of components, including platforms.

It’s also virtually guaranteed to be electric as Cupra is aiming to be a fully electric brand by 2030. The company currently competes in the all-electric FIA ETCR eTouring championship (main image).

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Volkswagen has toyed for years with the idea of producing a sports car.

It unveiled an Audi TT-inspired concept called the BlueSport in 2009 (above) – a lightweight, mid-engined four-cylinder roadster that was planned as a Mazda MX-5 rival but never went into production.

More recently, VW created the ID.R racing car concept (pictured below) that showcased the potential for impressively quick electric performance.

Elsewhere in the VW Group, Porsche has already confirmed electric successors for the 718 Cayman and Boxster sports car twins.

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Cupra and Volkswagen sports cars would be expected to be significantly more affordable than the Porsches.

Cupra’s sportiest cars are currently the Cupra Ateca, Formentor VZx SUV and Leon VZx hatch, both of which share drivetrains and more with the VW Golf R.

The sporty Born electric hatch arrives this year, to be followed in the next three years by the Terramar plug-in hybrid SUV, Tavascan electric SUV, and Urban Rebel electric city car.

Cupra has targeted 7000 sales in Australia by 2025.