The new Cupra Terramar will enter dealerships in 2024 as a striking, hybrid-only crossover to rival the likes of the Hyundai Tucson and Toyota RAV4.
Revealed today alongside the 2025 Cupra Urban Rebel electric supermini and the 2024 Cupra Tavascan electric SUV, the Terramar will be offered with a choice of mild-hybrid petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains. It will be the last Cupra launched with a combustion engine offering, as the brand looks to going all-electric in 2030.
The latter will be capable of travelling "around 62 miles" in EV mode – as far as any conventional PHEV currently on sale.
Named for a Spanish coastal town near Barcelona, it will be built alongside the closely related next-generation Audi Q3 at the Volkswagen Group's factory in Györ, Hungary - and is a close match dimensionally for that car, at 4.5 metres long. Cupra says it will allow the brand to compete in "the fastest-growing segment in Europe".
Cupra has already confirmed that another electrified SUV will join the Terramar in dealerships, and it's possible this could be a more rakish-roofed, coupé-style variant in the vein of the Audi Q3 Sportback.
For now, technical details remain thin on the ground, but the Terramar is expected to use a new generation of powertrains, separate from those available currently in the existing Cupra Formentor crossover. It uses an updated version of the MQB platform which underpins Cupra's current combustion cars.
Cupra promises the e-Hybrid PHEV options will still major on "performance and contemporary sportiness".
The new SUV is expected to be key to unlock future growth for the brand, which will lead expansion of Seat over the coming years.
“Our commitment to Cupra is clear,” Griffiths said. “Cupra is transforming Seat’s position in the market, spearheading its global expansion. Cupra isn't the end of Seat: it gives Seat a future. The future is electric and the future is Cupra.
“The future sustainability of our company is the growth of Cupra. We see our new brand Cupra as the lever to improve profitability, and we must put all our efforts behind its growth.”
Cupra tripled its sales last year to 80,000 cars, while Seat's sales total was 471,000.