SEAT will add a stylish off-roader called the Terramar to its burgeoning SUV line-up with the hot Cupra Terramar due to launch first
SEAT has applied to register the name Cupra Terramar, a sign that the much-rumoured flagship SUV coupe for the newly separated performance brand is set to pay tribute to one of Spain’s oldest motor racing venues.
Cupra is being launched with the Cupra Ateca, a faster, more focused version of SEAT’s existing family SUV. However, the company has already teased a sketch of what senior officials are calling the first ‘100 per cent Cupra’ – what appears to be a large SUV with a more swoopy roofline.
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It’s widely expected that this will be in effect a coupe version of SEAT’s recently launched flagship, the Tarraco – and that while it will be launched purely as a Cupra, a more conventional SEAT version of the car could follow within 18 months to two years. We’d expect it to have in excess of 300bhp, along with four-wheel drive and a dual-clutch automatic transmission. The model could also be chosen to introduce plug-in hybrid technology to Cupra enthusiasts.
Terramar would be a suitable badge for the Spanish performance brand. The Autodromo de Sitges-Terramar is a former racing circuit in SEAT’s home region of Catalonia; it was built in the 1920s and held minor races through until the fifties, but has long since been abandoned.
Significantly, though, the Terramar facility was also chosen by SEAT for the global launch event of the Cupra brand back in February – the very evening when the coupe SUV was first teased. At the conclusion of the official presentation, the company drew back curtains in the auditorium to reveal the circuit’s oval layout and fearsome 60-degree banking in the background.
SEAT sources have refused to confirm that Cupra Terramar is the name planned for the car. A spokesperson said, “We’ve no comment to make on trademark applications, which are made all the time for a number of operational reasons.”
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First hints at SEAT’s Coupe SUV plans
SEAT bosses had already confirmed that a jacked-up coupe will join the firm’s expanding model range in 2020, sitting alongside the Ateca and below the Tarraco.
SEAT described the addition as a Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV). However, speaking to Auto Express at SEAT’s 2018 Annual Press Conference, research and development boss Dr. Matthias Rabe revealed: “Our CUV will be Leon-sized. Quite high, coupe-like and quite sporty. ”That car as a Cupra works very well, too” he added. “It fits perfectly”.
The coupe SUV is likely to take much of its styling inspiration from the 20v20 concept (pictured), tha first revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2015. While that car was much larger than the Leon hatchback, we expect the CUV to inherit the 20v20’s sloping roofline and steeply raked rear screen, as well as its raised ride height and big wheels. It’ll also share similarities with the next-generation Leon hatchback, due in 2019.
The SEAT version is expected to launch with a variety of tried and tested petrol and diesel engines, while hybrid versions are also likely. SEAT boss Luca de Meo hinted that the forthcoming Cupra version would be a good base for the firm’s PHEV technology, insisting plug-in was a “good option for performance cars”.
What do you think of the Cupra Terramar name? Let us know in the comments…
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