Volkswagen Group Singapore (VGS) has officially relaunched Cupra, a Spanish performance brand, with a glitzy event held at Orchard Road on March 14. The brand marks its official re-entry into Singapore with two new electric vehicles (EVs) and a brand-new showroom along Alexandra Road.

What is Cupra?

Cupra started out as the performance motorsport division of Spanish carmaker Seat, and the name is short for "Cup Racing". The department was initially responsible for modifying Seat's cars for racing purposes, but started to produce road-going performance models under the Seat brand from the late 1990s.

In 2018, Seat's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, announced that it was going to spin off Cupra as a standalone brand. Cupra's first models were high-performance variants of existing Seat cars, but it launched its first bespoke model, the Formentor, in 2020.

In Singapore, Cupra, along with Seat, was represented by its previous distributor, Vertex Automobile from 2017 onwards. However, the distributorship for Cupra was transferred to VGS in mid-2023, with sales of Seat in Singapore discontinuing from that point on as well.

VGS spent over a year preparing for the brand relaunch of Cupra here, which included dedicating a new showroom space for the brand alongside the existing Volkswagen and Skoda showrooms at its facility at 247 Alexandra Road.

What are the new Cupra models in Singapore?

Cupra is relaunching here with a revamped line-up, consisting of two electric vehicles (EVs) imbued with the brand's famed performance capability.

The first one is the Born, a car which has finally arrived in Singapore following its official global debut four years ago. Due to its delayed introduction, the Born that Singapore is receiving is the mid-life facelift model that was unveiled in 2024.

The Born is based on the Volkswagen ID.3 electric hatchback, and both cars run on Volkswagen's MEB modular electric drive platform that's designed for smaller-sized EVs.

Two versions of the Born will be offered here, with the base model e-Boost variant delivering 231hp and 310Nm of torque, and an electric driving range of up to 428km. The car is equipped with a 59kWh battery, but Cupra Singapore has also brought in one unit with a bigger 77kWh battery that delivers a range of up to 560km, mainly to gauge customer response.

For those desiring more power, there is the Born VZ, which produces a hefty 326hp and 545Nm of torque, and an impressive driving range of 599km on a full charge thanks to its large 79kWh battery. Cupra Singapore however revealed that it has only brought in three units of the Born VZ, so it is a fairly limited edition model for buyers here.

The second Cupra model is the Tavascan, a sleek crossover SUV that targets the likes of the BYD Sealion 7, Xpeng G6 and BMW iX2.

Like the Born, the Tavascan is available with two variants, with the base Endurance model delivering 286hp and 545Nm of torque delivered to the rear wheels. The car features a 77kWh battery, and is good for a range of 568km when fully charged.

The high-performance Tavascan VZ model though increases that output to 340hp, with the same 545Nm of torque, sent to all four wheels via its all-wheel-drive system. It uses the same 77kWh battery as the Endurance, and can deliver a range of 521km when fully charged.

How much are the new Cupra models?

All four Cupra models debut with fairly competitive pricing, considering the performance capability that they offer.

The standard Cupra Born e-Boost starts at just under 200 grand, with a retail price of $195,900 with COE (as of March 2025), while the Born VZ is going for $225,900 inclusive of COE.

As for the Tavascan, the base Endurance model starts at $209,900 with COE, putting it almost square with the BYD Sealion 7. The Tavascan VZ though is retailing at $229,900 with COE, making it one of the best value-for-money performance electric crossovers for sale right now.

benjamin.chia@asiaone.com

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