CarBrandLogos archive · Cupra · 2024

CupraTavascan

A Spanish brand's electric coupe SUV, designed in Barcelona and built in China.

Photo: © M 93 · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

The story

A defining chapter in Cupra history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Cupra Tavascan, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Shown as a concept in 2019 and put into production from late 2023, the Tavascan is Cupra's second electric model — a compact coupe-roofed SUV on the Volkswagen MEB platform, offered with a single rear motor or dual motors for all-wheel drive.

Cupra Tavascan at IAA 2019 IMG 0790 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The decision that attracted most attention was where it is made. Rather than Martorell or Zwickau, the Tavascan is built at Volkswagen Anhui in Hefei, China, a joint venture in which Volkswagen holds a majority stake. That made it one of the first European-badged cars developed in Europe and imported from China, and it ran directly into the European Union's 2024 tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, which applied regardless of the brand on the bonnet.

Cupra Tavascan at IAA 2019 IMG 0791 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Cupra Tavascan Extreme E Concept IAA 2021 1X7A0090

In production

The car itself follows the Born's approach: sharper handling than the Volkswagen equivalents, an aggressively styled body by Alberto Torrecillas, and a cabin built around a large central display. It is named, like several Cupras, after a place in Catalonia — a village in the Pyrenees.

Cupra Tavascan Extreme E Concept IAA 2021 1X7A0090 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance