Legendary Porsche Racing Team Bringing VW’s Hottest Performance Sub-Brand To America

Forget about Scout; another brand under the Volkswagen Group umbrella wants to come to the US. Cupra, a former performance sub-brand of Spanish VW brand Seat, wants to bring its performance models here. Cupra doesn’t want to try it on its own, though. The company is eagerly looking for a partner and now says that it is in talks with Penske Automotive. Yes, the same Penske that owns much of IndyCar, races cars in most of the big US series, partnered with Porsche to win Le Mans, and tried to buy Saturn from GM during the 2009 recession.

Brand Is Less Than 10 Years Old, But Has Found Success In Europe

The Cupra brand started out as Spanish automaker Seat’s performance arm. It was a badge used on hotter Seat cars like the Golf GTI-based Léon Cupra and Polo GTI-based Ibiza Cupra hot hatches. Think of it as Seat’s equivalent to Alpine or DS. Or BMW’s M.

In 2018, the performance badge broke out on its own. Sort of, at least. Instead of just the quick trim, Cupra suddenly had its own models. Yes, vehicles like the Cupra Formetor were still based on Seat models at heart – the Léon in that case – but they came with their own styling and driving experience. In less than a decade, it has sold more than 750,000 vehicles in markets including Europe, Mexico, and Australia.

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The brand has expressed before that it wanted to sell vehicles in the US market. When the plan was first announced, the automaker was looking at Mexican production space via fellow VW Group automaker Audi.

Now It Is Lining Up A Partner To Do The Selling

Today in LA, Cupra announced that it was in talks with Penske Automotive Group to have that company become its distributor in the US. Cupra said that it would enter the market by the end of the decade, “in key states that are aligned with the brand.” It’s not clear what those states are, but the company plans a mix of gas, PHEV, and EV power. It said it would produce one of the models at a VW factory in North America.

Penske Corporation, known for Chair Roger Penske’s extensive racing empire as well as a large number of auto dealers and truck sales and leasing, will be the distributor.

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A division of that company, Penske Auto Group, was the official distributor for the Smart Fortwo when that vehicle and brand first came to the US in 2006. The same group was also announced to be purchasing Saturn from GM in 2009, though the deal collapsed later the same year.