Cupra launches 300hp Ateca and first race car
SEAT's new performance division is go - and grabbing for the low hanging fruit
The metamorphosis will require rather more glamour than can be contained in a go-faster Ateca - but of course that's where the sales volume is, and given its parent's long term flirtation with loss-making, Cupra will be encouraged to turn a profit almost from the off.
Naturally, in the Cupra Ateca (a name destined to seem arse about face for quite some time) there are Snow and Off-Road settings added to the onboard drive modes in case there's a kerb to mount on the school run - although the manufacturer also promises that tweaks have been made to the adaptive suspension which will befit the car's Cupra mode.
Not that anyone has told the designers that, mind. It says rather a lot about the Ateca that considerably more attention appears to have been paid to it's styling than the underbody. Around the new badge (which still looks like something from the Marvel Universe) the standard add-ons have been assembled: honeycomb effect, gloss black, matt aluminum, diamond cut alloys - you name it. There's even a Carbon Fibre Exterior Pack. And an interior one, too.
Just in case that all started to seem a bit too show-and-no-go, Cupra has included a few kickers alongside the Ateca. Most interesting is the TCR, the brand's first racing car which will begin competing later this year. Going racing is obviously a decent way for the brand to start earning its spurs, and, being based on a Leon, the car looks rather good.
Once you've got your head around that, the brand is keen for you to think about the Ibiza and Arona in Cupra costume (because it's almost certainly happening in both cases) and we'd lay good odds on seeing a Mii too if the Up GTI really takes off. A busy future then. In time, we'll know whether or not it's a bright one.
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To be honest I don't get this, it's got no image, it looks tacky - the small SUV market would be better served by a (less powerful) Tiguan IMHO
And why on earth did they not launch the brand with the Leon Cupra R? Surely that would have been a bit more "Cupra"?
Shame it’s DSG only - I knew it would always be DSG only though.
I wonder what the price point will be & how it compares to the base Macan & if the Porsche justifies the extra (bar the badge) - as they are a similar size, both 2.0 turbo, twin clutch gearboxed 4x4s with a sporting edge.
The new badge looks horrific though. I really think they need to go back to the drawing board on that one. The good thing with Cupra going at it as a standalone brand is the notion of a hot Ibiza again and possibly a Mii too.
k is that logo/colour? Was it made in paint by cutting up the transformers logo? Its the point of the Cupra brand I'm not getting - GTI & R ain't a separate brands why does Cupra need to be?
I'm intrigued to see where they take this and what they can do now that they couldn't directly under the Seat brand, but right now I don't get who it's supposed to appeal to. Is the market that strong for a pokey SUV that isn't German?
I think they should have launched with the Ibiza cupra, which despite less "performance" would have arguably been more desirable as a quick, fun car, and would also be more accessible in purchase price to get the new Cupra brand out there.
How on earth did that badge get signed off too?
All the other invented sub-brands released in the UK may have under the skin economies of scale but outwardly look different.
I’m to be convinced - maybe the Cupra dealers will treat you better; nicer coffee & some tapas.
Could be quite hilarious tuning this cupra Ateca to 500bhp as they do to the Golfs etc., nobody would see that one coming...
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