Luca de Meo’s view that sports cars aren’t a Cupra priority makes sense financially, but it will likely frustrate those hoping the motorsport-linked sub-brand was using SUVs to help fund such a project.
The logic in the argument is clear. Even Audi struggles to make money from the venerable Audi TT, so what hope does a relatively unknown sporting brand – itself linked heavily to a mass-market brand – have in delivering a positive result on the balance sheet?
Despite the financials, I can’t help thinking that a ‘halo’ sports car – even a high-margin, limited-volume one sharing a platform with the Audi TT’s replacement – would go a fair way to legitimising Cupra as an entity in its own right. By using such a car as a marketing exercise rather than a short-term money-spinner, it could justify itself in the long run, building a reputation of a truly sporting entity with dynamism and style at its core that filters down to the cars it actually wants to sell. Wishful thinking?
Seat itself has always struggled with its own identity. Attempts have been made over the years to pitch it as the VW Group's Alfa Romeo with limited success, perhaps adding fuel to the rumours that the Group might well just cut out the middle man and buy Alfa from FCA altogether.
Despite de Meo’s strong statement, he hasn’t ruled them out indefinitely. We'll keep our fingers crossed that sales of its high-riding models give it the confidence and pull in the budget from the Group to get enthusiasts excited with something really special.
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