Barcelona-based challenger brand Cupra has completed the first quarter of its first full calendar year of sales in Australia with the opening of its official Adelaide Garage.
Located at 11 Waymouth Street, Cupra’s new home in Adelaide is operated by Solitaire Automotive, a retailer of European and prestige automotive brands established in 1971.
Having operated to this point from temporary premises, the official opening of Cupra’s new South Australian home coincides with the release of the Born BEV hatchback.
“The commitment of Solitaire Group and the impressive facility in a busy CBD area combining business interests and high quality dining, is a glowing endorsement of Australia’s newest and most dynamic brand,” Cupra Australia director Ben Wilks says.
He says Cupra’s national network is growing in extent and experience.
“The biggest players in Australian automotive have taken a stake in a challenger brand that combines design, performance and – increasingly – electrification.”
Solitaire’s new Adelaide home joins the three Cupra Garages owned by AP Eagers (Indooroopilly, Gold Coast, Perth), Zagame’s Melbourne pair (Chadstone and Richmond), Sydney’s Alto Prestige (CBD and Artarmon) and Canberra’s Lennock Motors.
Wilks says further Cupra Garage announcements will be made shortly.
“Cupra is run along the agency model with online transactions,” he says.
“Our garages embody the modernising of customer transactions. Typically Cupra is found not only in traditional auto alleys but also where people live, shop and dine.”
Having launched in its newest market six months ago, Wilks says that Cupra has hit its stride with some 2200 orders.
The addition of the Born to the existing range – Formentor, Ateca and Leon – has been immediately successful with the allocation by the factory in Barcelona of 200 further pre-delivery Borns to the 400 made available for order a few days before Christmas.
Strong customer response to the first 100 Formentor and Leon VZe Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) means more can now be ordered ahead of delivery later this year.
Currently, Cupra’s single best-selling variant is the range topping Formentor VZx crossover, recently released in a ‘Rojo’ edition of 30 uniquely red-coloured and black-upholstered examples.
