Next Cupra Formentor will be all-electric

The all-new replacement for the current Cupra Formentor will drop combustion power for its second generation as part of a wider plan to launch the VW-owned Spanish performance brand in the US market.

The sleek coupe-style SUV was launched in Europe back in 2020 and is currently underpinning Cupra’s rapid growth, with Formentor racking up an incredible 120,000 sales in 2023.

It has also gained a strong following in Australia, racking up more than 2100 sales to account for 56 per cent of the fledgling brand’s total volume Down Under in 2023 (3765).

Now, however, the Cupra is preparing to completely reinvent the Formentor – but not until towards the end of this decade.

Speaking at the Seat’s annual media conference overnight, Cupra president and CEO Wayne Griffiths said the Formentor would be facelifted later this year to keep it fresh as its engineering and design team continued work on the all-electric second generation.

Describing the Formentor as the “single most important car for our company”, Griffiths hinted that the next iteration will migrate to the Volkswagen Group’s advanced SSP architecture currently in development, rather than using the MEB platform that underpins the current Cupra Born EV.

No further details were released but the use of SSP could rule out combustion power altogether for the next Formentor, unless Cupra decides to overhaul the current car once again to keep it relevant to buyers not ready to embrace all-electric power.

As well as moving to battery power for the Formentor, Cupra will also push ahead with its plans to develop an electric SUV much larger than the incoming Tavascan, which will also help spearhead the brand’s US debut.

Griffiths explained that US-built models would be key to its breakthrough in the market, with future Cupra models set to be assembled at existing Volkswagen plants.

It’s not known if production of the Formentor will move from its home in Martorell, Spain, to a US factory.

Griffiths didn’t confirm when exactly the US launch would occur, but it’s now thought it will be timed with the arrival of the second-generation all-electric Formentor.

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