Facelifted 2025 Cupra Formentor and Leon to leverage renewed interest in PHEVs

The Volkswagen Group’s spicy Spanish brand, Cupra, is planning to reverse a local sales slump with the release of new limited-edition models throughout the remainder of this year and the 2025 arrival of two updated models ahead of an all-new model onslaught.

The upgrades include a major refresh for the brand’s top-selling Formentor compact crossover and the introduction of the Leon Sportstourer as a pocket-rocket wagon to join the revised Leon hatch.

Each was unveiled at an event in Madrid overnight.

The Formentor has undergone a major design revision, predominantly around its nose, where the broad grille has made way for a slimmer upper opening and higher bonnet with a repositioned logo.

There are also new bumpers and lights front and rear, the latter featuring the triangular LED theme making its way across the Cupra range.

Plus it has an illuminated Cupra logo on its rump and the Formentor name spelled out on the sides of the tail-lights.

The Formentor also gets the option of a new plug-in hybrid system that doubles the claimed EV-only driving range to 100km.

Cupra hopes that more power – 200kW – and the ability to DC fast-charge at up to 50kW will also increase the interest in the PHEV drivetrain option.

However, it appears Cupra could miss the boat on the current fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions available for PHEV until April 1, 2025.

That’s around the same time the new Formentor is due to arrive Down Under, with the PHEV variants scheduled for local release a few months later.

Cupra Australia product and marketing chief Jeff Shafer says that the FBT exemption and the imminent introduction of federal fuel-efficiency standards means “there’s a few variables that we’ll have to take into consideration”, but that he still expected keen interest in the PHEVs.

“Not everyone is in a position where a BEV is right for them today and I think plug-in hybrids are a solution for some people,” said Shafer.

In the first three months of 2024, 34 per cent of Cupra’s sales were PHEVs, according to figures supplied by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

And the VZe PHEV is now the top-selling Formentor variant, accounting for 56 per cent of sales.

Cupra also unveiled the updated Leon hatchback and its Sportstourer wagon cousin in Madrid this morning.

Both Leons also get a fresh snout, new bumpers and lights, including the illuminated Cupra logo at the rear and distinctive triangular LED elements.

Plus, Cupra has confirmed the Sportstourer will arrive in Australia in 2025 with the updated 2.0-litre turbo engine that now makes 245kW.

That flagship model also gets more powerful Akebono brakes and a torque-splitting centre differential that can effectively create a drift mode.

There will also be a PHEV version of the Sportstourer promising the same 100km of EV range from a 19.7kWh battery, although Shafer admits the PHEV will be “a more high-end offering”.

So while there’s a temptation to consider the Leon Sportstourer as a spiritual successor to the now-discontinued Golf R wagon from sister brand Volkswagen, don’t expect them to be big sellers.

“It’s a niche… but it’s a niche that’s interesting to us,” said Shafer. “I think the volume is going to be fairly limited but I’m also prepared to be surprised.”

The 221kW engine will carryover in the Leon hatch.

However, while deliveries of the updated models start within a couple of months in Europe, Australia has to wait until about April 2025. The PHEV variants will land in Australia around the middle of 2025.

In the meantime, Cupra is leaning on sharpened drive-away deals and new limited-edition models to keep sales ticking along.

Cupra sales slumped by 28 per cent in the first three months of 2024, but Cupra Australia director Ben Wilks is forecasting the brand to achieve similar full-year sales as it did in 2023 (3765).

“Our job as a brand… is to maintain that growth in awareness… it’s to set the agenda for that growth,” said Wilks of the planned 2025 arrival of the Terramar and EV-only Tavascan.

“We’re aiming for just on the same [sales level as 2023] or slightly above… then prepare for all of that new model activity in 2025.”

While Cupra isn’t wholeheartedly committing to the 7000 sales target it initially nominated for 2025, it is hoping two limited-edition models and a new Ateca V due here by September will keep interest ticking along.

That Ateca V will get a 140kW tune of the familiar 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and is expected to be priced from around $50,000, making it the most affordable Cupra SUV.

The limited-run models are the Leon V Tribe Edition and Formentor VZe Tribe Edition. The latter is powered by the plug-in hybrid drivetrain that has shot up in popularity since the introduction of the government’s FBT exemption for those taking out a novated lease on an eligible battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Each special includes wheels finished in the brand’s trademark copper colour, a premium Beats sound system, heated front seats, powered driver’s seat with memory function and a ‘petrol blue’ interior.

Just 150 examples of the Leon Tribe will be available, alongside 300 Formentor Tribes.

Cupra has also unleashed new drive-away deals for multiple models, starting with the Leon V at $44,888, while the Leon VZ now costs $53,888 drive-away and the Leon VZx $61,888.

Sitting between those two is the Leon VZe plug-in hybrid, which is sold at various prices depending on the state/territory it’s being registered in.

The Ateca VZx is now $58,888 drive-away.

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