Cupra has already officially and effectively landed in Australia in what Wayne Griffiths, President of Seat and CEO of Cupra, has defined as “the first big step” in the globalization of a brand with only four years of history. The emblem of Cupra We can already see it in Sydney’s business district with the new City Garage, its first showcase in a market it is reaching with ambition.
Right now in the new City Garage in Sidney you can see the Cupra Ateca, León and Formentor with the plug-in hybrid versions of the latter two. These three ambassadors of Cupra and Barcelona in Australia will be joined in 2023 by the electric Born. From 2025, the range for sale on the Australian market will be completed by the new Terramar, Tavascan and UrbanRebel models, which will be sold under the Raval name.
sales forecast
Cupra’s start-up in Australia will add sales of 1,600 vehicles in 2022 that will multiply to 7,000 in 2025, according to the company’s forecast, which will have nine outlets in the huge country from August that will pass to 15 in 2023. a new electricity market being created in the country, Cupra aims to eventually achieve a 5% market share. To date, Cupra has received 11,000 expressions of interest from potential customers and becomes “one of the first European brands to bring plug-in hybrid vehicles to Australians, according to Ben Wilks, Brand Director Australia.
The country is a market with potential due to its nascent electrification, with a zero-emission car market share of just 2% in 2021, behind Spain’s 3.5% and nearly 10% on average in Europe. Last year, 20,665 electric vehicles were sold in Australia, a big increase from the 6,900 sold in 2020. Cupra will have to compete with the absolute leader in the Australian electric market, the Tesla Model 3, with a share of 58, 5%. The rise of electric vehicles, which receive incentives from Australian states, is occurring in a declining market suffering from microchip shortages like Europe.
Cupra competition in Australia
In June, passenger car registrations fell by 9.7% and totaled 537,858 cars in the first half of 2022, according to car employers. In the general Australian market, Cupra will have to compete with Toyota, the same leading brand as in Spain, but with different models, such as the Hi-Lux pickup as the most popular model, followed by the Hyundai Tucson and Ford Ranger.
To promote its entry into the new market, Cupra brought together a broad representation of the social, economic and sporting life of the country at the opening of the City Garage in Sydney, including players from the men’s and women’s football teams that the brand supports.
“Australia is a strategic global market for expansion in Asia-Pacific and beyond,” said Wayne Griffiths after the inauguration of City Garage in Sydney, the brand’s seventh after those located in Mexico City, Hamburg, Munich, Milan, Lisbon and Rotterdam.