After consolidating its organisational structure with the appointment of its management team and increasing its staff by 50%, CUPRA has started building its new headquarters, as announced by company CEO Wayne Griffiths in front of the brand's dealers after the second stop of the SEAT & CUPRA on Tour in Liverpool.
Located next to the SEAT headquarters, the new multipurpose building will have motorsport at its core, featuring 2,400 square meters of open-plan space. The CUPRA headquarters, whose design evokes a racing paddock, will be divided into two floors which will house the brand’s operations center of its sales, marketing, purchasing and finance departments. Located on a 10,500 square meter plot of land surrounded by nature, it will feature a large patio and a grand terrace for outdoor events, designed as a backdrop for presentations of future models.
Griffiths praised the positive evolution of the brand since its birth in 2018 during the announcement of the new headquarters when speaking to the brand’s British dealers: “The CUPRA headquarters will signal the culmination of our consolidation as an independent brand. As our goal is to double sales in the next two to four years, having our own facilities will allow us to increase our staff to over 100 employees and will give us strength to grow our tribe of car enthusiasts around the world”.
Construction of the building is expected to end this year and it is scheduled to open its doors in 2020.
New facilities
The SEAT Sport building will become the CUPRA Racing Factory.
Since racing is at the core of the CUPRA ethos, work is also being done on the SEAT Sport building, which was temporarily being used as the company’s central offices. These 16,000 square meter facilites are being remodelled into the CUPRA Racing Factory: “It will be our new motorsport garage where the brand’s upcoming race cars will be developed and produced, and it will prepare the CUPRA e-Racer’s debut in an electric touring competition“, stated Antonino Labate, director of strategy, business development and operations at CUPRA.
In addition, CUPRA will also have a dedicated space within Casa SEAT, the company’s upcoming multidisciplinary building in the heart of Barcelona.
Furthermore, CUPRA’s distribution network consists of several spaces located in selected SEAT dealers. The brand currently has 222 CUPRA Corners and it will complete its implementation by the end of the year reaching 245 corners, representing 20% of the SEAT network. The company has trained more than 240 CUPRA Masters who are in charge of transmitting the CUPRA experience to customers. CUPRA will also have its own flagship stores outside the SEAT dealerships. The company is currently scouting locations in iconic areas of Munich, Hamburg, Vienna and Mexico City.
Plugged into the future
After a year as an independent brand, CUPRA is setting a new sales record every month. In the first five months of 2019, CUPRA sold 10,300 cars, a 76.8% growth compared to the January to May period of 2018.
While the brand is completing the launch of the CUPRA Ateca and conducting a strong run out of the Leon CUPRA, it has also presented a new concept car to showcase its shift towards electrification. The CUPRA Formentor and its high-performance plug-in hybrid engine with a total output of 245 PS represents the manifesto of the brand and proves that CUPRA is engineered for the future. It will be launched to the market in 2020 but is now being exhibited at the SEAT & CUPRA on Tour in Liverpool.
SEAT & CUPRA on Tour
Both facilities are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
After its inaugural stop in Norway to present the Mii electric, the first SEAT all-electric vehicle to be launched to the market at the end of this year, the ‘SEAT & CUPRA on Tour’ continues its roadshow across Europe and reaches the United Kingdom. This event, where the latest novelties of SEAT and CUPRA visit strategic countries for the two brands, is being staged in Liverpool from the 18th of June until the 20th.
Besides the CUPRA Formentor, the Merseyside capital also hosts the CUPRA e-Racer, the world’s first 100% electric touring car developed by the brand’s engineers. This motorsport car, which delivers 300 kW of continuous power and up to 500 kW (680 PS) at its peak, can reach a top speed of 270 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in only 3.2 seconds.
Completing the range of novelties, the people of Liverpool will also get a first hand look at the SEAT el-Born, the first 100% SEAT concept car based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which will be exhibited alongside the Mii Electric. In addition, SEAT classic cars are also being displayed at the venue.
After visiting the English city, the tour will make its way to Paris at the end of September, immediately following the IAA Frankfurt Motorshow. The journey will continue until the end of the year with three more stops expected in Lisbon, Berlin and Milan.
