Sporty Spanish automaker Cupra — part of the Volkswagen group — isn’t very well known in the U.S., but that could soon change if Penske Automotive gets its way. The two companies are apparently exploring some sort of partnership that would see the Seat spinoff enter the U.S. market by 2030.
Back in March, we reported that Cupra, which has been making hotted-up versions of VWs and Seats since 2018, was eyeing entering the United States. Right now, there still aren’t a ton of details, but it seems that Penske will be its channel into the land of the free. In a press release, Cupra and Seat CEO Wayne Griffiths said Penske’s “leadership in the industry and experience with the Volkswagen Group make this a very promising potential partnership.”
The nascent automaker even named a managing director for this planned U.S. expansion. Bernhard Bauer, who currently leads the brand in Germany, will be tasked with leading the charge. It’s still not clear where Cupra’s U.S. headquarters will be located, and we still don’t know what its model lineup will look like. However, we can make some educated guesses based on what Griffiths said in the past.
Don’t get your hopes up for small Cupras to come over here. That’s a losing proposition, but don’t be too sad. It’s probably going to start with the next-generation Cupra Formentor, which should be an EV and be built in one of VW Group’s North American factories. It’ll then follow that up with another EV that hasn’t been specified yet. That being said, Cupra expects to sell a mix of internal combustion, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the U.S.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this all works out for both Cupra and Penske. On one hand, I cannot imagine other Volkswagen dealers are going to be super thrilled that just one dealer network has complete control of an automaker, especially after everything that is happening with Scout. However, on the other hand I’m not sure what sort of volume Cupra is planning to do in the U.S., so it probably won’t be enough to make a big different to other VW ground dealerships. For some context, Cupra says it sold 230,000 vehicles globally last year.
Either way, more competition is always welcome. I sort of dig Cupra’s styling ethos, so it’ll be cool to see that come stateside.
