A genuine Hyundai N and Toyota GR rival? Nah, Cupra is benchmarking itself against brands outside the auto industry

Volkswagen Group’s stylish and unconventional child, Cupra does not see itself as a competitor to performance brands like Hyundai’s N and Toyota’s Gazoo Racing, instead it is looking to benchmark itself with companies outside the automotive industry.

That’s according to Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths, who was in town last week to launch the new brand in Australia.

“We don’t really benchmark ourselves against classical car manufacturers or other brands,” he said.

“I prefer to benchmark against something more like the fashion industry, or wherever I get my inspiration. Cupra is the off-white [of the car industry] or the Thom Browne or Dsquared2 – I love the fashion topic.

“But our inspiration comes from other areas because if you take your inspiration from your existing industry or something that already exists, you end up copying it, and we don’t want to copy stuff, we want to do something unique, something that stands out.

“And therefore, there is probably nobody in the industry that we would try to copy, we want to do our own thing.”

Although Cupra is positioned as a performance brand under the Volkswagen Group umbrella, it also emphasises head-turning design and a style-first, youth-oriented identity.

The Spanish brand is launching in Australia with three high-performance models – the Leon hatchback, Formentor crossover and Ateca SUV.

The Leon and Formentor are available with four powertrain options, kicking off with a 140kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol for $43,990 before on-road costs and $50,690 respectively for the V grade.

However, the VZ kicks things up to 180kW/370Nm, while the top-spec VZx (the sole grade available in the Ateca) makes 228kW/400Nm from a 2.0-litre engine.

This easily surpasses the likes of the Hyundai i30 N and Kona N (both producing 206kW/392Nm from a 2.0-litre engine), as well as the Ford Focus ST (206kW/420Nm), Subaru WRX (202kW/350Nm) and even the hotly-anticipated Toyota GR Corolla (220kW/370Nm).

Another point of difference for Cupra however, is its range of performance plug-in hybrid powertrains launching later this year, which have no direct rivals from mainstream brands like Toyota and Mazda.

When asked if there would be unique customer activities, like Hyundai’s N track days, to for Cupra loyalists, Mr Griffiths said he didn’t foresee any such activities, instead highlighting the brand’s push into the ‘Metaverse’ to target a younger, more tech-savvy demographic.

Dubbed ‘Metahype’, the online space will allow access to a virtual Cupra showroom where players can customise and spec vehicles.

Cupra will also launch Down Under with a number of ‘City Garages’ that, unlike traditional showrooms, will serve as a more stylish outlet for the brand.

The Cupra City Garage in Sydney’s Pitt Street for example, is situated right in the heart of the CBD and features a barista for coffee orders, and a merch store that includes sunglasses and shoes, as well as space to showcase the brand’s line-up.

Up next for Cupra is the launch of the all-electric Born hatchback in early 2023, which will be Volkswagen Group’s MEB-based first tailpipe emissions-free model in Australia.

Following the Born, there are updates for the Leon and Formentor planned, as well as rolling out three new models – the Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel – but 2025 as the Spanish marque eyes 7000 annual sales in Australia by that time.