Spanish product offensive: 2025 Cupra Tavascan electric car and Terramar hybrid spearhead delayed range renewal

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Cupra is gearing up for a big 2025 with new nameplates and fresh faces for existing ones, but it isn’t happening as fast as we expected. 

Leading the charge are two new names which will enter Australia’s most popular market segment. Tavascan is the swoopy-roofed electric medium SUV and Terramar is a more conventional family SUV that uses turbo-petrol or plug-in hybrid power. 

Following these are facelifts of Cupra’s first standalone car, the Formentor, along with Leon hot hatch and a fresh Sportstourer wagon variant. 

Cupra had initially announced these new models would arrive before the second half of the year, however Cupra head of product Jeff Shafer told Chasing Cars delaying the launches was a strategic decision. 

“I think we’ve had a look at the 2025 launch actions and we want to make sure that we do justice to each model, give it time to launch, make sure the network is bringing them into the showroom with enough focus. 

“Tavascan and Terramar are two of the big pillars in the growth of the brand — particularly in pushing to a slightly larger SUV than we’ve had in the medium SUV range,” said Shafer. 

It’s also worth noting that other Volkswagen Group brands including Skoda and VW have busy launch schedules this year, with a host of new electric and combustion-engined vehicles arriving imminently

The Polestar 2-like Tavascan is arriving in Cupra garages soon with a rear-drive Endurance variant packing 210kW and 534km driving range from $60,990, before on-road costs. 

Cupra is expecting the majority of buyers to select the Interior Pack with a more powerful stereo and bigger 20-inch alloys ($65,490) or move up to the AWD VZ with 250kW and adaptive dampers for $74,990, before on-road costs. 

The brand didn’t discuss sales volumes for the Tavascan, though stock is expected to be a little tight at launch, according to Shafer. 

Following the Tavascan is another new nameplate for Cupra, the Terramar. Arriving in July, the Terramar uses the same MQB Evo platform as the new Volkswagen Tiguan.

Details are yet to be confirmed, but expect multiple trim levels — likely called V, VZ and VZx — to use different tunes of the VW Group’s ubiquitous 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder.

A new tune as seen in the Skoda Kodiaq RS outputs 195kW and 400Nm. 

A performance-oriented plug-in hybrid will be on the table, likely badged VZe, which punches out 200kW and enables around 100km of EV driving range (WLTP). Expect an entry variant from about $55,000 and for the Terramar to be Cupra’s biggest seller in Australia. 

Previously pigeon-holed for April or May, the facelifted Leon hot hatch and Formentor sports SUV have both been bumped back to the third quarter of 2025 with pricing and final specification to be released. 

New look sheet metal and revamped interior technology will likely usher in a new entry-level 110kW Leon, along with a revised 200kW plug-in hybrid variant and the VZx headline hot hatch keeps the same 221kW output. 

The new, all-wheel drive Leon Sportstourer VZx wagon and Formentor get bumps to 245kW and 420Nm in Europe, along with the trick torque splitting rear differential from the VW Golf R. 

Rounding out 2025 will be the upgraded Born electric hot hatch, which will arrive in punchier 240kW rear-drive VZ guise, adding some extra focus to Cupra’s first battery-electric nameplate. A larger battery (now 79kWh) improves range, too. 

Cupra Australia director Ben Wilks said the new nameplates and revamped Leon and Formentor will bolster the second phase of the brand’s growth in Australia. 

“So we’ve got a pathway now for our first customers to graduate towards and we’ve got something to bring some new people to the brand who liked what we were doing but just didn’t fit in the size segment that we had,” Wilks told Chasing Cars. 

Looking further ahead, Cupra will hold steady in 2026 with the range as above. Then it’s about new product again, the Polo-sized Raval electric car looking likely for late next year or early 2027 release, followed by another new nameplate — a large SUV, due in 2027.