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CUPRA will switch its next-generation Formentor to electric by the end of the decade, with the car forming a key part of the brand's expansion into the US.
Launched in 2020, the Formentor was the Spanish performance brand's first car to have not been based on an existing SEAT model. It arrived with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid power, and sits on Volkswagen Group's flexible MQB platform which is used on a wide variety of cars.
Last year, CUPRA shifted 120,000 units of the coupe-crossover, marking a 23% year-on-year rise. An updated version with new looks and technology will arrive later this year.
Speaking at SEAT's annual media conference, SEAT and CUPRA CEO, Wayne Griffiths, said the second-generation electric Formentor would be joined by another SUV when the brand enters the United States for the first time.
"We plan to enter initially with two electric models. A battery-electric version of the Formentor and a bigger electric crossover SUV," he told journalists.
"At the same time we want to leverage synergies within the brand group by producing this crossover SUV in Volkswagen factories in the North American region including Mexico. CUPRA will be launched in selected states, where we can assure to find customers that are linked to the CUPRA brand and can respond to the CUPRA brand – this will be done by a new distribution model."
The larger SUV would sit above the forthcoming CUPRA Tavascan and it's unclear if the second-generation Formentor will also spawn petrol and hybrid versions.
