Cupra pushing to enter the US market with large electric SUV on future SSP Volkswagen platform

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Cupra has announced it is working towards entering the American car market, but it won’t be building a pickup truck to rival the likes of the Ford F-150  or Rivian R1T.

Cupra’s president and chief executive officer, Wayne Griffiths, told Chasing Cars during a media roundtable that the brand is considering bringing a large-size SUV to America that would also be a global product, and not exclusively for the US new car market.

Griffiths confirmed that the new electric SUV would sit on the future SSP architecture, a platform that will underpin most new Volkswagen Group cars from 2028.  

But Cupra wouldn’t step on the toes of Volkswagen’s revived Scout brand, which is planning a pickup for America. 

“We wouldn’t be looking at a pickup, because the Volkswagen group has just made announcements on huge investments on pickups with Scout”, Griffiths said. 

Cupra looking to be a niche, speciality brand in America 

Wayne Griffiths made clear that Cupra in America would be a niche brand, but would offer more than one model. 

“We couldn’t go to the US with just one car. It just wouldn’t make sense.

“To have the ideal car for the US, it would have to be a newly developed car … (however) that could also involve us going with an MEB car as well”, Griffiths said. 

This could mean that Cupra could bring cars such as the Cupra Born to the US market too, however this hasn’t yet been confirmed.

Griffiths says it’s still very early days for the American push – a confirmed launch is yet to be determined. 

Cupra could bring SSP-based SUV to Australia  

Wayne Griffiths told Australian media that a Cupra electric SUV for the US would also be a car for many markets, meaning that it could come down under. 

“It would be a global product … The car that we would [produce] for the US would also be a great car for you guys in Australia”. 

A large, performance-based SUV would certainly stir up interest in Australia, where SUVs account for a large majority of new car sales.