Seat's Cupra Formentor concept focuses on sporty performance

Seat's Cupra brand will preview a production performance plug-in hybrid crossover with the Formentor concept that debuts at the Geneva auto show on March 5.

The concept is set to become the first production model specifically developed by Seat for the Cupra brand.

While Seat has sold performance Cupra-badged cars for many years, CEO Luca de Meo last year made Cupra a standalone business to develop models more powerful and more specialized than Seat's mainstream models.

The Formentor concept has a gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid system that makes 242 hp. It can travel 50 km (31) miles on electric power alone in Europe's new WLTP regulatory testing regime, equivalent to a 70km in the old NEDC cycle.

Cupra launched its first model as a separate brand last year - the 296-hp Cupra Ateca, derived from the Ateca SUV.

In its first year of operation Cupra sold 14,400 cars, up 40 percent from before it was a standalone business. The figure includes Cupra versions of other Seat models.

Cupra aims to double sales within the next three to five years. Cupra will soon have seven models in its lineup, de Meo told Automotive News Europe in an interview last year.

Seat is using Cupra for its first phase of electrification program because electrified powertrains will initially be more expensive than traditional internal combustion engines, de Meo said in the interview.

In a news release, Cupra said using an advanced high-performance plug-in hybrid system in the Formentor allows for a larger power output using the high-torque characteristics of an electric motor.

Germany is a big market for Cupra cars, accounting for 10 percent of the brand's German sales. De Meo wants to replicate this success in other European markets. His first target markets are Italy and France, where Seat's market share is just above 1 percent compared with more than 3 percent in Germany.
Using the Cupra name will help raise Seat's brand perception quickly, de Meo said.

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess says Seat can now become a credible rival to Alfa Romeo, where de Meo served as CEO for two years, an ambition that failed in the past. Diess believes Seat can appeal to younger people who do not remember Alfa Romeo's glory days.