11 March 2018

Seat will offer customers the full Cupra sales experience through a limited selection of its larger retailers, according to managing director Richard Harrison.

Cupra, which has been the Spanish brand’s name for its range-topping performance models, will now be spun-off as a sub-brand with these vehicles carrying Cupra, rather than Seat badges front and rear.

Speaking exclusively to Auto Retail Agenda, Mr Harrison said: “There will be Cupra specialists within the network. These will go into some showrooms but it won’t mean taking tiles up. There will be ‘Cupra master’ sales specialists who are enthusiasts for the brand.

“The Cupra retailers will have access to specials, but all Seat dealers will be able to transact the Cupra range. However, the specialists will have priority access to the series.”

Seat already has 25 fleet specialist retailers within its 123-strong network. However, Mr Harrison said that it was not necessarily the case that these would also become the Cupra specialists.

He added that a final number of Cupra specialists had not yet been set but would be discussed with the network first.

Tags: Cupra, Seat