New Wayne Griffiths pushes Cupra: Will Seat be pushed to the wall?

As the Spanish branch of the VW Group, which also operates as SEAT SA, the Spanish car brands Seat and Cupra somehow go together. But the demands and perceptions of the two “brands” – as their boss, Briton Wayne Griffiths would probably call them – could hardly be more different. On the one hand, Papy Seat, aged over 70 and a bit old-fashioned, is not seeking his identity within the group for the first time. On the other, the newcomer Cupra, just four years old, who does not know how to channel his energy and his ambitions. And who, even in the face of the challenges of the corona pandemic, is running from one success to another.

On the occasion of the anniversary celebrations, Griffiths declares with a tone that is not one hundred percent authentic: “We want to continue to establish Cupra – especially in Germany, because you cannot be established after four years”. But he also names ambitious goals: the total turnover for 2021, at least 79,300 vehicles, is to be doubled this year. This means that the newcomer is still significantly smaller than the veteran sister brand (391,200 vehicles sold in 2021), but the trend speaks for Cupra: by almost tripling sales figures from 2020 to 2021, Seat recorded a drop in 2% sales over the same end point. It’s not for nothing that the new strategy is called Cupra² – not easy times two then, but high of them.

The priority is with Cupra

The potential is huge, which is why Cupra is also aiming to double its sales, which would put the brand in the five billion euro range. In any case, Griffiths does not hide which of its brands it is currently pushing the most: “Cupra has priority within the Seat group.” The Wolfsburg support necessary for this prioritization comes from the top. As VW CEO Herbert Diess pointed out a year ago, Volkswagen’s ambitious electrification plans in Spain have nothing to do with the traditional Seat brand, whether at first glance or second. view. But all the more so with the young sports brand Cupra. During his last visit to Spain, for example, Diess and King Felipe were instructed by Griffiths primarily in Cupra strategy. seat? It largely works on its own, but somehow also sideways.

Cupra, Diess announced via LinkedIn after his visit to Spain at the time, is to become a purely electronic brand and address young target groups around the world from Spain. “After 2030” (it could also be 2031 or 2032), adds Griffiths, the hip pupil should be fully electric. To illustrate how fast this should go, the Briton does not hesitate to make the comparison with the very big ones: “With Porsche, Cupra will be the fastest to electrify within the VW group”, says Griffiths, adding that Seat and Cupra won’t be. be at the same time investing in e-mobility. He dutifully adds that the two brands offer different vehicles in order to serve different customers and that Cupra is “not at the expense of Seat”. Nevertheless, the following still resonates: Seat is the dusty old world of combustion engines. But Cupra is young, modern and electric.

Cupra goes international

In addition: Cupra, not Seat, would have the great global perspective of the association of Spanish brands. This is not only for image reasons, but also for linguistic reasons. “Seat simply struggles in Anglo-Saxon countries,” says Griffiths. Cupra will soon start in the Australian metropolis of Sydney, and in the future it should also conquer the USA. Seat, on the other hand, plays a secondary role in internationalization plans. VW doesn’t need a second cheap entry-level brand in the group. That’s what Skoda is for. And unlike Seat, the Czechs perform extremely well on a global scale, which is why they were chosen to be the driving force behind the VW Group in price-sensitive growth markets like India. What is still missing is youth athletics that can be marketed globally. It should work with Cupra.

Products for global expansion will come from the Martorell plant. This should – as soon as possible – only build electric vehicles, including the appropriate local production of battery cells. Spain has the chance to become a European center for electric mobility, Diess announced during the on-site visit. Just in time for this announcement, the “el Born”, which was actually also intended as an electric seat, was completely moved to Cupra. There it is now simply called “Born” and has been in retailers since the end of 2021. Even that has something special about Cupra: the best downtown locations in European metropolises instead of pale, functional buildings in the suburbs. And then the sellers are also called “Cupra Master” and must guarantee the most intensive and personal shopping experience possible. Also in this regard, Cupra is geared towards the top of the range and tries to bring as much space as possible between itself and the dastardly existence of Seat’s volume.

Cupra pulls two new models out of a hat

Fixed relabeling works because Volkswagen’s MEB substructure sits behind Cupra’s nose. The Cupra Born is, if you will, the first sporty version of the VW ID.3. It will then continue, probably in 2024, with the Cupra Tavascan, which was presented as a study at the IAA in Frankfurt in 2019. Here too Seat reaches the VW shelf, under the racy Tavascan design is the VW ID.4. And then Cupra is even allowed to expand the concept of the planned VW ID.1 and ID.2 models into the small sporty electric car Urban Rebel, which caused a stir as a cool concept study at the IAA of the year last. Its 435 hp should not even begin to reproduce the production version announced for 2025. But this car will not be boring, that’s for sure.

Enough prospects for a small brand like Cupra in terms of sales volume? Not at all! To mark the company’s fourth anniversary, Wayne Griffiths has announced two more models that haven’t been on the radar until now and are expected to be introduced within the next two years. So far he has not been able to get any further information. But on the one hand, it should be another offshoot of the MEB. “There is still room for a car which is not a BEV, but which is electrified”, assures the boss of the company. A plug-in hybrid that, for packaging reasons, only makes sense in a larger car. Since Cupra already offers both its Leon branch and the Formentor as a PHEV, the newcomer should settle in a segment above. Maybe Cupra will launch its partially electrified Ateca in the future, unlike now? Of course, it is also conceivable that this newcomer has no equivalent in the Seat world.

Now it’s even going in the metaverse

But even with the newest style of play, which the Spaniards have discovered for themselves, Cupra is playing early adopter instead of Seat. For Cupra, it will soon be the Metaverse, a virtual parallel world that the Spaniards call Metahype. “It’s a collaborative space where brands, startups and creatives offer many different events and experiences for people to meet, create and share their culture,” says Wayne Griffiths. Artistic content such as NFTs should be featured there along with featured digital and physical products and streamed content. In this universe, Cupra will have its own space, which Griffiths even plans to use as a distribution channel at some point. The Cupra² experience also represents a connection between the real and virtual worlds, in which drivers can participate in motorsport events with the Urban Rebel via virtual reality.

And the seats? Look in the electro and scan tube. The traditional brand has nothing more to offer when it comes to electric cars than the (permanently) sold out Mii Electric. It is likely that nothing will change. If things go really badly, Herbert Diess will even send Seat into full retirement before the brand’s 80th anniversary can be celebrated. Officially, however, neither Wolfsburg nor Martorell want to know anything about it. “Cupra was born to strengthen Seat. The two brands do not work against each other and cannot be replaced. Both are of equal importance and play a strategic role for the Volkswagen Group,” a statement said. official from Seat and Volkswagen a year ago. Today, Griffiths makes a very similar statement: “Seat continues to be strong and well positioned with SUVs and PHEVs”, and if Cupra is doing well, Seat is doing well too. However, it remains to be seen how long this statement can be sustained.

Conclusion

VW boss Herbert Diess has proven in recent years that he is not afraid of tough measures. He has not only carved out the group consistently for electromobility, but also for its global relevance. Anything that does not sell globally or that is “double” in terms of positioning in the group no longer has a future. We’ll see how hard it actually hits Seat. Looking at the current model range and the number of hits that Herbert Diess shows when it comes to electromobility, there is a lot to be said for the brand’s retirement. Maybe Diess and the Seat boss will do some magic Wayne Griffiths still came up with a plan B at one point. We wouldn’t bet on that though. Money is probably best invested in NFTs.