Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths has confirmed to Australian media that the brand won’t build a ute or pickup-style vehicle for the US market, and likely won’t build a ute at all.
The head of Cupra said the Spanish brand wouldn’t want to step on the toes of Volkswagen’s revived Scout brand, which is planning a pickup for America.
“We wouldn’t be looking at a pickup, because the Volkswagen group has just made announcements on huge investments on pickups with Scout”, Griffiths said.
Cupra is unlikely to build a ute in the future
Cupra will instead focus on potentially bringing a large electric SUV, along with other models, into the US market, however the flagship SUV would also become a global product.
The SUV has been confirmed by Griffiths to use Volkswagen’s next-generation SSP electric platform, rather than the current MEB platform.
US market already saturated with utes
The current Ford F-150 Lightning electric ute
In 2022, pickup trucks accounted for 19.3 percent of new car sales in America, however the region is still dominated by SUVs that accounted for 45 percent of the market.
Currently, in America, the most popular pickup truck is the Ford F-150, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado and the Ram 1500.
Scout Motors, under Volkswagen ownership, is working on a ute for the US market
But there is a new round of electric utes appearing, including the Ford F-150 Lightning, Ram EV, Rivian R1T, Volkswagen Scout ute and even the Tesla Cybertruck, just to name a few.
Cupra is focused on sporty, performance-focused vehicles, making the possibility of a ute far less of a focus for the Spanish brand.
