Cupra Is Heading To America

There are a lot of cars the United States gets that we in Europe are pretty jealous of. For us, the Nissan Z, Toyota GR Corolla and a proper Ford Mustang Dark Horse are just a few sore points we’d love to have on our shores.

We can only assume the same goes both ways, though, as there’s plenty of metal we Europeans can enjoy that isn’t sold stateside. Well, if you’re an American that has pined for a Cupra in the same way we have a fast Corolla, today is a good day for you.

The Spanish brand has confirmed it plans to enter the US market, with the goal of selling cars in America by 2030. It’s in talks with Penske Automotive to help get its feet off the ground, too.

Cupra Leon Sportstourer

Now, if you’re not familiar with Cupra, it’ll take a little bit of explaining. It started with a Spanish car brand founded by the country’s government called Seat, which was then bought by Volkswagen in 1986.

Then, in the mid-’90s, Cupra became a trim for a small hatchback it made called the Ibiza and eventually its larger Leon. In essence (and later, mechanically), it was its equivalent to Volkswagen’s GTI.

Seat Ibiza Cupra MkII facelift

Volkswagen then decided in 2018 it wanted to reposition Cupra as a lifestyle brand of its own, targeting the youth and all that. Imagine it a bit like Scion once was to Toyota, only more Instagram-influencer friendly.

So now, Cupra makes cars of its own – or rather, it makes cars based on Volkswagen’s existing platforms and gives them some more stylish bodywork and interiors if that’s your sort of thing.

Cupra Formentor

Cupra hasn’t confirmed which cars it wants to bring to the US, although that’s no real surprise given it could still be near-enough six years before it arrives on the market. It has said it plans to launch with ‘ICE, PHEV and BEV’ options, though.

We’ll point out that by 2030 though, you’ll be able to legally import the vast majority of Seat Cupra models of old, which we’d be more inclined to suggest…