Look beyond the ambiguous marketing jargon and overused buzzwords, and there's something here worth being excited about. Cupra is a relatively new brand, spun out from its big sibling Seat in 2018. Even though it builds mostly SUVs, the emphasis is on performance; the “Cupra” name itself is an amalgamation of “cup” and “racing.” Clever.
After initial success in its home market of Spain and elsewhere in Europe, the Volkswagen Group already has ambitious plans to bring this brand to the United States. It won't happen until the end of this decade—and let’s face it, America’s newfound love of tariffs could make this plan a bit awkward—but for now, Cupra is trying to build up some American hype., The automaker flew a few products to Miami ahead of Formula E and offered me seat time in the Formentor plug-in hybrid.
It should be noted from the jump: This exact vehicle may or may not come to America. 2030 is a lifetime away in the fast-moving electrified era, and who knows if the Formentor will even exist by that time. But in just an hour and a half behind the wheel, Cupra's smallest crossover charmed me.
(Full Disclosure: Cupra gave me a hotel room in Miami for the night and one very fancy sweater with their logo on it. It’s a nice sweater.)
Gallery: Cupra Formentor PHEV U.S. Drive
Where Does Cupra Fit In?
The VW Group has big plans for Cupra because, frankly, it needs the help. And it needs America to pay off in a big way.
The German conglomerate used to print money in China. But these days, Chinese buyers pretty much only have a taste for their homegrown brands. And things aren’t going so well in Europe, either, with a stagnating overall market, high labor costs, potential factory closures, and, yes, more competition from China.
The answer for the VW Group is to take the U.S. market more seriously than ever. The revived Scout Motors brand is one part of that; Cupra is the other.
Yet the VW Group already has two more mainstream-leaning brands in the U.S.: Volkswagen and Audi. So it might not make a ton of sense to the average buyer why the company needs another one stateside. But while the VW brand operates on the mainstream end of the market, and Audi on the luxury side, Cupra wants to be smack dab in the middle of the two—like a German Oreo with Latin filling (gross).
Cupra pointed specifically to brands like Mazda, Mini, Jeep, and Hyundai as potential competitors in the U.S., with still enough room between them and higher-end automakers like Tesla, BMW, and, of course, its cousins at Audi. Though U.S. pricing is not anywhere near finalized, it should reflect that market positioning. The company aims to sell about 100,000 units in the U.S. annually in the medium term—about 25,000 less than Volvo did in 2024, for context—with plans to expand from there.
“We’ll never be premium, that’s not us. And we’ll never be volume,” said Cecilia Taieb, Cupra’s Global Director of Communications. “The differentiation is the same differentiation you have in Europe, there’s no comparison. The prices are not the same because we’re between Volkswagen and Audi, so we’re not competing with any of those brands. That’s why we’re the sweet spot in the Volkswagen Group.”
By the brand’s own admission, Cupra does lean more toward luxury—spend time in the Formentor, and you’ll find that true. But executives are adamant that Cupra will attract an entirely new group of buyers, younger than what other luxury brands currently see.
“In Europe, we are able to attract young people,” notes Chief Brand Officer Ignasi Prieto. “So if the average in Europe is around 52 [years old], we’re conquering an average of about 46. So we have a lot of 30, 31, 32 [year-olds] that a lot of other brands in the Group are not able to conquer… So we offer an entrance point into the Group… Audi is more focused on premium. We are not there, we don’t want to be there."
Unlike some other startups, or even Scout, Cupra won’t offer direct-to-consumer sales. It’s tapped dealer magnate and racing impresario Roger Penske for the job. The automaker recently teamed up with Penske for around 20 “City Garage” locations in the U.S.—aka, dealerships—that should make it easier for potential buyers to pop in and see the products up close.
But success depends on the product. And from what I’ve seen so far, Cupra’s onto something there.
From Spain, With PHEV
So what is a Cupra Formentor, anyway?
The Formentor is the brand's smallest crossover, riding on Volkswagen Group's ubiquitous MQB platform—so think of it as a lifted Golf with sporty GTI- and R-adjacent variants to match. The first-generation Formentor debuted in 2020, and a facelift in 2022 sharpened the SUV with a new “shark nose” grille, better wheels, and fresh technology.
The base Formentor gets a turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine making 148 horsepower, with the sporty Formentor VZ (Cupra's equivalent of a GTI or R model) pumping out as much as 329 horsepower from its turbocharged 2.0-liter gas engine at the top of the range. But for America especially, the plug-ins are the most important.
Cupra initially wanted to be an EV-only brand in the U.S. But as many automakers have, the company slowed its roll on electrification and now plans to bring some of its gas models to America alongside a bevy of plug-in and electric options.
The Formentor PHEV—the one I drove—gets a new eHybrid system for 2025 that combines the base 1.5-liter gas engine with a single electric motor and a now-larger 19.7-kilowatt-hour (net) battery pack for a combined 268 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque. That’s powerful enough for it to reach 62 mph in 7.2 seconds and a top speed of 137 mph, while still returning just over 62 miles of all-electric range on the ever-generous WLTP cycle.
Powertrain aside for a moment—just look at this damn thing. There isn't a compact crossover anywhere in the U.S. that's half as attractive as the Formentor. Its sharply angled “shark nose” is very concept car-esque, while its wide stance and sleek profile buck traditional crossover aesthetics. The optional matte paint job and copper accents on the wheels and badges are a nice touch, too.
Even around Miami, a city well-known for its unbelievably boring roads, abhorrent drivers, and terrible traffic (I'm from there, I'm allowed to say it), the Formentor PHEV is still a lot of fun. There are obvious shades of Golf GTI in its DNA; the steering is sharp and quick, the chassis is wonderfully balanced and responsive, and even with a heavy-ish plug-in-hybrid powertrain underhood, the Formentor feels light on its feet. It's a genuinely fun thing to fling around.
Low-end torque from the electric motor is ample, and there's more than enough power from the tiny turbocharged engine to keep things interesting at highway speeds. And it's all unbelievably smooth; nary is there a moment where it feels like the gas engine and electric motor are fighting with each other underhood.
The Formentor’s only noticeable downfall is the brakes. Cupra uses an electronic Brake Booster system meant to improve braking speed and energy recovery, but it’s clunky in practice. Squeeze gently on the center pedal, and there’s enough brake pressure to slow the vehicle down. But push harder to bring the vehicle to a full stop, and there’s some clunkiness to push past—seemingly the pedal reacting to the transitioning of the powertrain. It’s difficult to modulate smoothly, especially in traffic.
The interior is also a bit too funky for my tastes. Aside from a few hard plastic touch points, it all looks and feels premium. But multiple textures, patterns, and colors all clash with each other at odd intervals. The squishy faux-stitched material atop the dash is very off-putting. And the Formentor basically uses a version of the Volkswagen ID.4’s with the terrible touch-capacitive controls.
Then again, this could all change before these cars make it to America. And a lot is up in the air right now. The world’s timeline for going electric is murkier than ever, automakers are asking tough questions about where to even build cars and the VW Group seems to be figuring out a lot of things across the board. And more recently, Wayne Griffiths, the CEO of Cupra and its Seat cousin, has moved on from the company. How Cupra will continue to flourish without the architect of its success is a tough question for the VW Group to answer.
But if this brief drive in the Formentor PHEV represents even a fraction of what Cupra plans to bring to the U.S., they're on the right track.
Contact the author: jeff.perez@motor1.com
