About a month ago, we revealed the name tipped for SEAT’s upcoming compact electric car: the Acandra. It is expected to be part of a wider family of future small EVs from the Volkswagen Group, all based on the smallest iteration of the MEB platform. From that same underpinnings are also set to come the Skoda Elroq and the Volkswagen ID.1 and ID.2.
Volkswagen Group MEB Small and the €20,000 entry point
These models are due to start reaching the market in 2024 and, crucially, they are aiming for entry prices of around 20,000 euros. That would put them well below the pricing of other electric cars currently on sale in the same segment.
CUPRA UrbanRebel vs SEAT Acandra: who arrives first?
Following the Munich Motor Show, the picture now looks different from what had previously been reported. An unexpected CUPRA UrbanRebel has emerged on the same basis (with a launch planned for 2025), and it could end up taking the place that had been discussed for the SEAT Acandra.
In other words, a 100% electric CUPRA supermini could reach the market before any SEAT Acandra does. This is despite the fact that these compact EVs (from CUPRA, Skoda and Volkswagen) are all slated for production in Martorell-SEAT S.A.’s headquarters-at a projected rate of 500,000 units per year.
CUPRA has recently stated its ambition to become a 100% electric brand by 2030. It is also on the verge of beginning sales of the Born (which, as you may recall, originally started life as the SEAT el-Born). In addition, the brand has already confirmed the Tavascan for 2024, while the production version of the UrbanRebel is planned for 2025.
According to Wayne Griffiths, the top boss of both SEAT and CUPRA, this is a strategic choice. He argues that to stand out in the entry-level EV segment you need “something different”, namely an “emotional electric car that looks good and is fun to drive.”
What about SEAT?
For now, there are no concrete, confirmed plans for a compact electric car wearing the SEAT badge. Griffiths did, however, indicate that even after 2025 there will still “be strong demand for cars with combustion engines and, specifically, plug-in hybrids”.
At present, the SEAT Tarraco and the Leon are available with a plug-in hybrid option. The Leon, in particular, has been very well received by the market, even outperforming its equivalent “cousins” within the German group.
Griffiths also said that the SEAT brand will provide mobility services. The reasoning is that its target audience is, on average, younger than much of the rest of the industry, and that group is not always the most inclined to buy a car outright.
More notably, Wayne Griffiths added that both brands-SEAT and CUPRA-will continue “until the end of the decade”, but that what happens afterwards will depend on how quickly the electric-car market develops.
Extra pressure on CUPRA
In light of these developments, the outlook for the SEAT Ibiza becomes less clear. The model was refreshed recently and was expected to move to a new generation in 2024-25.
It is SEAT’s third best-selling car, behind the Leon and the Arona. Yet with the Volkswagen Group preparing to electrify the segment via MEB Small-which will progressively replace models built on MQB A0, such as the Ibiza-it raises the question of whether it makes sense to develop new cars around that older architecture.
MQB A0 does not support electrified powertrains, not even hybrids. And Euro 7 is on the way, which will heavily increase costs for the most affordable combustion cars, making that path look increasingly hard to justify economically.
However, if SEAT’s entire electric push is effectively left to CUPRA, the pressure on CUPRA to fill that gap with its own 100% electric offerings will only intensify. CUPRA’s early momentum helps support that scenario: the Formentor is already its best-selling model, and sales figures continue to rise.
Source: Automotive News.
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