The Australian launch of Volkswagen Group’s new Spanish model, Cupra, is heating up, with the all-electric Born small hatchback having arrived for native testing forward of its anticipated launch after the primary wave of fashions.
As reported, Cupra will formally enter the Australian market round June with the Leon small hatchback and Ateca and Formentor small SUVs, with the previous and latter to be accessible with three turbo-petrol engines and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain.
However the huge information is the Born, which Cupra Australia hopes will go on sale as early as late this 12 months. Why? Properly, it’s set to be the primary mainstream zero-emissions mannequin provided regionally by Volkswagen Group, with excessive abroad demand having up to now held up VW and Skoda’s plans.
Learn extra in regards to the Cupra Born
Cupra Australia director Ben Wilks mentioned: “Born is undoubtedly our halo automotive, one which embodies all of Cupra’s efficiency and design attract in a zero-emissions bundle.”
So far as the native testing is anxious, the primary of three Born examples has been freighted to Sydney, with greater than 10,000km set to be placed on the odometers of every one, marking the primary time the small hatchback has been pushed exterior of Europe.
Talking to Australian journalists final September, Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths mentioned: “For us, Australia is extra essential than many different markets … so we put our assets into fixing the electrical automotive for Australia as an goal, as a precedence.”
Mr Griffiths added the Spanish model is doing all it may possibly “to get an answer for the Cupra Born” in Australia, with it a precedence in its 2022 growth price range, including that “the problems aren’t round emissions or round homologation”.
“The problems are across the on-line connectivity of the automobiles and the system behind that, however there are workarounds that we’re engaged on now in a really pragmatic manner, to have the automobiles able to work in Australia,” he mentioned.
“The automobiles are protected; the automobiles are homologated. It’s simply the net connectivity that’s a process, however even when now we have to go together with the primary automobiles offline, that’s what we are going to do.”
For reference, the Born is intently associated to the VW ID.3, which is but to be confirmed for low-priority Australia alongside its sibling, the ID.4 mid-size SUV, with Volkswagen Group hoping for a 2023 launch date for its all-electric ID household.
In Europe, the Hyundai Ioniq and Nissan Leaf rival has three powertrain choices (110kW, 150kW and 170kW), the selection of rear-wheel drive (RWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD), and three battery selections (45kWh, 58kWh and 77kWh).
