Seat just announced that it's hot-to-trot go-faster division, Cupra, is breaking off from the pack to create its own stand-alone sub-brand. The first solo Cupra offering is expected to drop next month at the Geneva International Motor Show.

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The Full Story

We've seen a good number of Cupra models from Seat in the past, and each bears the mark of the performance mindset. The name has ties to touring cars and the BTCC, as well as the World Rally Championship. In fact, the name was first used in 1996 with a tuned-up Ibiza hatchback, which was offered to customers as acknowledgment of Seat's win in the 2.0-liter class of the WRC.

Now, the Cupra name (think “Cup” and “Racing”) will break off from Seat to become it's own sub-brand, much like Polestar did with Volvo, Abarth did with Fiat, and AMG did with Mercedes-Benz.

Seat made the announcement with a press release and a brief 40-second video, which you can view below.

The vid is rife with all the usual marketing tropes (you know, like Courage, Beauty, Performance, and the like) as represented by a lineup of attractive actors. Unfortunately, the video is completely devoid of any cars, which is a bit of a disappointment. However, we do get a look at the brand's logo, which, to us, looks a bit like a simplified version of the Decepticon logo from the Transformers franchise.

All new Cupra models will use the logo as part of this fresh sub-brand effort. Copper seems to be the go-to shade for the brand, which makes sense considering its use in Seat's Cupra models in the past. Indeed, we're excited to hear about that Cupra is striking out on its own, as we've seen some rather attractive performance machines to carry the name before, such as the Leon Cupra hatch from 2014, a former Nurburgring lap record holder.

Seat is based in Spain, but owned by Volkswagen, so expect to see a good deal of VW influence going forward as well.

Cupra's first stand-alone brand effort is expected to be a pumped-up iteration of the Seat Ateca SUV, which could receive a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine for motivation, with upwards of 300 horses and AWD to put it to the pavement.

Sporty hybrids are also a distinct possibility.

Look for Cupra's big official debut on February 22nd. The sub-brand's first standalone model will then head to the Geneva Motor Show in March, where we should get the full low-down.

References

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