Best Cupra Car Models in NZ: Buying Guide

Cupra is a relatively new car brand here in New Zealand. The Cupra badge was once used to designate the performance versions of the Seat range, but has since usurped its former master, and is now a stand alone brand. It’s been so successful, Seat is now goneburger.

Cupra is part of the VW group, still Spanish in origin, and is tasked with offering more dynamic, driver-focused cars and SUVs. It has a relatively small range of vehicles with one EV, the Born, a couple of SUVs in the Formentor and Ateca while the Leon can be had as either a five-door hatch or a wagon, the latter they call the SportsTourer.

Cupra NZ runs an agency type sales model here, meaning that the price is set by the distributor, there’s no haggling involved. And it’s the same regardless of where you buy your car from around the country. There are six Cupra Garages around New Zealand, though Christchurch is the only one for the South Island. However there are Cupra service centres in Nelson and Queenstown.

Part of the Cupra Driveaway pricing regime includes all on road costs and a tank of gas. All models are covered by a five-year/100,000km warranty. Cupra offers three- and five-year service plans to help lock in your maintenance costs at the time of purchase. So which are the best Cupra cars then?

Need a bit more space? You can also get the VZ in SportsTourer form at $69,900. It has a similar powertrain to the five-door hatch, but adds all-wheel drive, helping it stick better and making it quicker off the line. And you've also got 580L of cargo space in the rear. It’s a fun, fast family wagon.

Want something a bit different? There’s the formidable Formentor SUV VZ. This has the same powertrain as the Leon ST, but in a funkier body, one with that slightly raised seating position people seem to like. Although it's an SUV, it drives more like a fast wagon, it's very engaging. These VZ models can be both sporty and pampering thanks to adaptive dampers, which you can fine tune to your liking.

All these VZ models are backed by five star safety ratings and come with plenty of technology onboard via a 12-inch touch screen with wireless Android Auto and CarPlay, charge pad and sat nav.

There's also the pure electric Born which is one of the more dynamic EVs that you can buy. It's rear wheel drive, making it interesting to drive; it feels very nimble and balanced in the bends. It has quite a large 77kWh battery, giving it a WLTP range of 548km, which is plenty. It's reasonably practical too with comfortable space for four passengers and 385L of boot space.

It too has a five star safety rating and a long list of features to help justify its $75k price tag.