Cupra Tavascan.
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After Alpine, we have yet another little-known European brand claiming to enter the US: Cupra.
You would think big names like Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, or even Opel would consider entering the US. Instead, we will be getting Alpine and Cupra. While Alpine does have a cool history of building really cool cars in the 1960s and 1970s on top of producing sportier versions of Renault models, Cupra is pretty new.
Cupra used to be the name given to sportier models from the Spanish brand Seat which has been part of VW since 1983. The sub-brand Cupra became its own brand in 2018. Since then, they are not just sporty versions of Seat models but have their own designs.
Basically, a sub-brand of a sub-brand. A sportier brand as part of a giant conglomerate of car brands. Pretty much like what Pontiac was to GM maybe.
This will all happen before 2030. And will include an EV version of the Cupra Formentor. (Probably a next-generation coming out in 2 or 3 years). As well as something else that could be a version of the new Avascan pictured above. They’ve also mentioned a new larger SUV built in the US. But who really knows…
IMO, most current Cupra models are just weirder versions of Seat, VW, and Skoda models, with even weird interiors. Just look at the Tavascan above, which is based on the VW ID.5. Itself an SUV coupe version of the ID.4 sold here. That front end alone is just a nightmare. But the worst is inside. Where it looks like the interior of a “psycho fun house” on the boardwalk. Something you either avoid or pay to get scared. A design vaguely inspired by the interior of a Klingon ship, with the regular VW tablet screen added to it.
By the end of the decade, VW will be quite busy in the US. As it will have completed the construction of a new plant for its new Scout brand. Scout will produce an SUV and a pickup. And will start yet another brand over here with Cupra.
VW can barely run the VW brand in the US in a proper fashion. It seems like a constant flow of one mistake after another. And yet, they will add Scout and now Cupra to the crazy train.
All I can do i swish them luck…
VW: Lets create an even bigger dumpster fire.
US Market: Your cars are already oddly (read: cheaply) designed, too expensive for what you get, and have poor reliability and dealer service.
VW: Glad you like them. We’ll just build a new Scout brand, and throw a Klingon cloaking shield over the old ones.
US Market: (Shakes head) Perfect. More choices to ignore. Carry on.