Cupra originated from Cupra Racing (previously SEAT Sport), the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of SEAT. The "Cupra" name, short for "Cup Racing" was first used in 1996 by the
SEAT Ibiza GTI 2.0 16V Cupra Sport, which was a
street legal version of the
Ibiza Mk2 kit car used in the competition and created as a special edition to celebrate SEAT's victory in the 1996
FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup (a subdivision of the
World Rally Championship at that time). It was followed by the SEAT Ibiza Cupra 1.8 20V in 1999, and the more powerful Ibiza Cupra R in 2000. Over the following two decades, SEAT introduced a succession of
hot hatchbacks marketed with the Cupra badge, such as the
SEAT León Cupra 1.8 20V in 1999, and in the following year the SEAT Leon Cupra 4, which is the first AWD Cupra and the only six-cylinder Cupra. Since then, every SEAT León generation has been supplemented with a Cupra-badged hot hatch version. On 31 January 2018, SEAT confirmed that it is launching Cupra as a standalone brand, followed by an announcement event on 22 February 2018, in which prototypes of forthcoming Cupra models such as the
Cupra Ateca were shown. SEAT's head of sales and marketing Wayne Griffiths planned to double Cupra sales within the following four to five years, helping SEAT achieve sustainable profitability. Cupra cars were to be sold in some SEAT dealerships in Europe, with dedicated floor space. The Cupra logo of two intersecting triangles was designed by
Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. According to Mesonero-Romanos, the philosophy of the triangular logo is that a triangle is a dynamic shape, has a stable base, and points in a clear direction. The first model from the standalone Cupra brand was the
Cupra Ateca, introduced in October 2018. The
Cupra León joined the line-up in February 2020, following the introduction of the SEAT León Mk4. In March 2020, Cupra introduced the
Formentor after being previewed as a near-production
concept vehicle at the
Geneva International Motor Show in November 2019. It is the first Cupra product that is not shared with SEAT. In February 2021, the
Cupra Born was introduced as Cupra's first
electric car. The concept version was called SEAT el-Born, but the Born became a Cupra-only model while remaining closely related to the
Volkswagen ID.3. The second electric car from Cupra is the
Tavascan, launched in April 2023, which was preceded by the Tavascan concept car shown at the
2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is the first Cupra model produced outside Europe, made by
Volkswagen Anhui in China. In March 2024, Cupra announced its intention to enter the U.S. market "by the end of the decade". The planned models to be sold are the next-generation electric Formentor, and an unnamed larger electric vehicle to be produced in Mexico. == Products ==