Smart 1 vs Cupra Formentor

What's the difference?

Another day, another China-backed EV brand launches in Australia. This one, though, should be at least be vaguely familiar, with Smart having previously operated in Australia about 15 years ago, back when it was a Mercedes-Benz sub-brand rocking the tiny and clever Smart ForTwo and ForFour.

Mercedes is still involved, though now as a 50/50 joint venture partner with Chinese giant Geely, though the new Smart family is not being delivered by either company, and are actually being distributed by Mercedes’ biggest global dealer group, LSH Auto.

All of which is a load of information you don’t really need. But you should know, as a result of all that, the brand is promising a fleet of semi-premium EVs designed in Germany and built in China, with the Smart #1 the first to touch down in Australia.

Oh, and they pronounce the “hashtag” part of the model name, but I just can’t see that strategy becoming part of the Australian lexicon.

Anyway, part-Chinese, part-German and all electric. So should the #1 be on your EV shopping list?

We’ve waited more than two years and it’s finally here.

Cupra has introduced the updated version of its most popular car in Australia, the Formentor.

A spicy small SUV rival to the likes of the Mini Countryman, BMW X2 and Audi Q3, among others, this design-led small SUV is now offered in more flavours than ever before.

It’s our first time testing out this updated Formentor on local soil, so read on to see how it stacks up.