How things change in such a short time. When Cupra was presented as an independent SEAT brand in 2018, no one imagined the success it would achieve in its first years of life. In fact, the past 2022 was a true record, because Cupra practically doubled its sales. All this at a time that is far from ideal for the automotive sector. Also, It continues to eat ground at a SEAT which continues to drop and substantially reduced its sales.
Cupra and SEAT they are not rivals, both are part of SEAT SA and their results should be viewed jointly. Although we are not going to fool ourselves either, because in recent times the future of SEAT has been questioned after the pull that the sports brand has had. Proof of this is that they closed 2022 with a total of 152,900 cars soldwhich represents an increase of 92.7% compared to 2021. Although the most significant data is that Cupra already represents 39.65% of SEAT SA, which ended the year with 385,600 units between both brands, a drop of 18.1 %.
Because SEAT as a brand saw how in 2022 its sales fell 40.5% to stay at 232,700 cars. It is worth highlighting falls in some of its main models such as the SEAT León (-47.3%) or the SEAT Ibiza (-46.4%). And that Spain is one of the few markets that maintain it, since 49,200 vehicles were sold here, 30.4% less than in 2021. On the other hand, Cupra is raised by the Formentor effect, which sold 97,600 units and represents 63.8% of the brand. Its main market is Germany with 58,400 units, but they also achieve good sales in the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
It seems that the trend will go up, that the gap will widen even more, taking into account that Cupra does not stop expanding into new markets and has a budding product offensive. While SEAT products are becoming more obsolete, Cupra is preparing the arrival of the Tavascan and the Terramar for next 2024, as well as a production version of the UrbanRebel for 2025. high hopes in these products, which define the future of Cupra, while SEAT remains a little more to one side. But only time will tell how both brands evolve.
