2023 Cupra Born EV pricing announced

The new 2023 Cupra Born battery-electric hatchback has been priced from $59,990 plus on-road costs, with the order book opening December 20 and local deliveries starting next March.

The four-year-old Spanish member of the Volkswagen Group is boasting the Cupra Born is the first EV to be sold in Australia with both a recommended retail price under $60,000 and a range between recharges beyond 500km.

Of course, add on-road costs and the drive-away price of the Born climbs over $60K and as high as $66,490 in Western Australia. See the list of state-by-state drive-away pricing below.

Also, if you option the Performance Package and its bigger 20-inch wheels and tyres then the range drops from 511km to 475km.

Still, the first EV to achieve an electric range and price tag that both start with a ‘5’ is a nice boast to be able to make – and Cupra is definitely making it.

And, depending where you live, you may be eligible for a rebate on your purchase. In the case of NSW, a $3000 deduction brings the price down to $59,490.

The Born will come as one highly-specified model. To check out what’s included, see our equipment story here.

As well as the retail price, Cupra has also confirmed the Performance Package will cost $2600 and an Interior Package $2900. Aurora Blue premium metallic paint adds $475.

“People are very interested in EV overall as a category and when they see the proposition Born offers from a price and a range point of view … it is a pretty big opportunity,” Cupra Australia director Bern Wilks told carsales.

Electric cars the compact Born is priced close to include the Polestar 2 (from $63,900), Tesla Model 3 (from $65,500), Hyundai IONIQ 5 ($69,900) and Kia Niro (from $64,450).

However, VW has confirmed the conceptually similar Volkswagen ID.3 will be priced under the Born when it arrives here in updated form in 2024.

In line with the brand’s sporting ethos, Cupra is also pitching the 170kW rear-motor Born as a rival for petrol-powered hot hatches. Such vehicles in its price range include the Volkswagen Golf R (from $65,990) and Renault Megane RS Trophy (from $62,300).

To find out whether carsales’ European correspondent Michael Taylor reckons the Born qualified as a hot hatch, check out his drive impressions here.

You will only have to wait till next week for our first drive of the Born in Aussie spec on local roads.

Cupra, which only launched in Australia in July with a range of three ICE-powered models – the Formentor crossover, Leon small car and Ateca SUV – will sell the Born online with nine agents/dealerships nationwide.

It says it already has around 5000 registrations of interest for the Born, but expects demand will outstrip supply with only 500-1000 destined for our shores in 2023.

Limitations on battery supply will be the primary determining factor for how many Borns make it to Australia in 2023. The same issue applies to the plug-in hybrid VZe versions of the Leon and Formentor.

Born pricing was announced at the same time Cupra confirmed it had tallied up 1500 orders in Australia so far, with about 1000 expected to be delivered by year’s end.

The objective at launch had been to achieve 1600 sales in 2023 and Wilks said only supply shortages and congestion unloading ships at Port Kembla had prevented that goal from being achieved.

The 1500 orders break down into a rich mix dominated by the Formentor, with 45 per cent of all orders for the top-spec VZx version that was recently named as a runner-up in carsales’ 2022 Car of the Year.

The VZx Leon and Ateca account for another 24 per cent of orders.

The four-model Formentor line-up is clearly the buyers’ favourite with 71 per cent of orders headed that way.

But even as Cupra early adopters spend their money at the top of the range, the brand is rolling out a new price-leader model for the entire line-up, the $47,990 drive-away Leon V.

A model specification formulated for Cupra in Australia that’s now being adopted in other countries, it will be available to order in January with deliveries starting in the first half of 2023.

The Leon V is powered by a 140kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine driving the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

Standard equipment includes 18-inch alloy wheels, dynamic chassis control, three-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control and lane assist.

“We see it as a nice opportunity to sit in that space that’s been left behind as some other models have moved up in price,” said Wilks.

“I think there is a really great market for a hot hatch at a warm level.”

Cupra Born drive-away pricing:
ACT: $61,990
NSW: $62,490
QLD: $63,490
Vic: $64,990
SA: $64,490
WA: $66,490

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