Cupra reaches one million cars

Few could have imagined the huge success of Cupra when, in 2018, this high-performance subsidiary broke away from Seat to become an aspirational brand, barely positioned in the market segment between mainstream and premium manufacturers, becoming the youthful entry-level brand to the sports cars of Audi or Porsche. Seven years later, and despite the shocks caused by the pandemic, the semiconductor crisis, geostrategic problems in Ukraine and Palestine, and rising raw material prices, Cupra celebrates the rollout of its one millionth model from the Martorell plant, becoming one of the most successful and fastest-growing European brands of recent years.

The millionth model is certainly laden with symbolism, as this honor has gone to a Magnetic Tech-painted Cupra Formentor e-Hybrid, a plug-in hybrid model with 272 hp and a higher-capacity lithium battery, which is now arriving. The promotion of electrification and the Formentor model have been the two major pillars of Cupra's growth in recent years, two arguments that have influenced the brand's commercial commitment.

The first model of the new independent Cupra was the Cupra Ateca, a powerful and special version that was intended to make an impact on the market, followed by the Cupra versions of the Leon. But what was truly decisive and marked the evolution of the brand were the first exclusive models, specifically the electric Cupra Born (the brand's first 100% electric car), the Cupra Tavascan (the brand's first electric SUV), and the Cupra Terramar, a sporty SUV with a family vocation. The range will soon expand with the new Cupra Raval, an electric city car that will be manufactured in Martorell and is intended to be the conceptual replacement for the Seat Ibiza (a model with which it will coexist for some time).

But the Cupra Formentor has been, without a doubt, the brand's star car and flagship. The Formentor is, in fact, a Leon with a raised body, a specific setup, and a captivating design that has become Cupra's greatest asset, to the point of becoming the most exported model in the brand's history. The reception of Cupra (especially the Cupra Formentor) in the main European markets has been magnificent, and some countries such as Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, and France have become key markets for its growth, which, unlike Seat, does not need the Spanish market to consolidate.

A horizon of growth

Cupra is one of the Volkswagen Group brands that has grown the most in the first nine months of 2025, with a percentage above 4%, and for the moment it has not shown signs of exhaustion. In fact, the Martorell plant is about to finish the adaptation work on production line 1, where the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID. Polo will be manufactured, with an investment of more than 300 million euros.

The Cupra Raval should be the first fully electric car with a clear vocation for the masses, thanks to its aesthetics and dynamic set-up, a youthful design and a clear urban vocation. However, the brand still has two major pending issues: the landing in the United States (postponed sine die due to the Trump administration's tariffs) and the brand's expansion into the Middle East, although it will have to do so with combustion models, which dominate the market in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.