CUPRA analyzes the possibility of selling its cars in the United States
Published by The team in News the 25/07/2022 at 15:41
Very recently, CUPRA was selling in Australia. A few weeks ago, CUPRA opened its first Australian CUPRA City Garage dealership in Sydney, and 15 more outlets will follow.
On the occasion of the arrival of the Spanish brand in Australia, the CEO of the brand, Wayne Griffiths, explained to the local press that they were studying the introduction of CUPRA in the United States.
In fact, for the general manager of CUPRA, offering CUPRA in the United States takes priority over selling in China. For Griffiths, it makes no sense to sell in China, at least not yet. At the Asian giant, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda have a high market share, and the group does not need CUPRA in this market.
"They have a very strong position with Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda. So going to China? Not at the moment. We have more priority for the United States," Griffiths said.
The United States in CUPRA's crosshairs
Griffiths, who wants to make CUPRA a global brand, hence his arrival in Australia, and sees the US market as a natural progression to achieve this. “We are very strong in South America, especially in Mexico, but also in Colombia and Chile,” added the CEO.
To show that a brand can be truly global, it must sell all over the world, hence the interest of being present in Australia. “So obviously we have to look at markets like North America, but that would only be in a second phase,” Griffiths said.
He also clarified that no decision has yet been made regarding North America, as they are "still beginning to analyze the market." In addition, before being able to launch the brand in the United States, CUPRA will have to demonstrate that it has a global vocation in Australia, where the range The initial version is made up of the CUPRA Ateca, Formentor and León in petrol versions, and PHEV, in the case of the last two.
They will be followed by the CUPRA Born , as well as the Tavascan and the Terramar . “Our ambition is to eventually reach more than 5% market share in the electricity segment in this country,” Griffiths said.
In any case, the fact that Griffiths speaks openly about the possibility of selling in the United States conveys a message of ambition and confidence in the product, but it also confirms that the brand that matters is CUPRA , while SEAT will more increasingly relegated to a secondary role and limited to European markets.
