If You’re Still Waiting For A Cupra Ibiza Hot Hatch, Just Don’t

Given that Cupra positions itself as a high performance brand, one would only assume that a small hot hatch like a fast Seat Ibiza would be a no-brainer, but apparently that’s not the case.

Back in 2018, Cupra was officially launched as a standalone performance brand, showcasing the Cupra Ateca as its first model and the Cupra Ibiza as a “design study” based on the then freshly-revealed supermini model.

Read More: New 2020 Cupra Leon Hatch And Wagon Are Here As Golf GTI’s Slightly Hotter Mediterranean Cousins

Top Gear had a chat with Cupra’s engineering boss Axel Andorff, asking him what happened with the small hot hatch.

“You know, one of the jobs we have in development is to think about potential portfolio positions for the future,” he said. “It’s helpful to create show cars to get a feeling of how the car will look. For this, for the time being, there’s no plan to position a Cupra Ibiza.”

When pushed to clarify, Andorff didn’t hold back. “I do not spend a second of my day on this car,” he replied.

Cupra has been so far an SUV-focused brand, with the exception of the Leon; the Cupra Ateca will be soon joined by the Formentor, which will also become the brand’s first standalone model, so maybe a Cupra version of the smaller Arona makes more sense for them instead of the Ibiza.

“The freedom of Cupra… we don’t demonstrate today”, says Andorff. “But later on this year, we’ll have the right freedom we need to create the brand. We have something in the pipeline that’ll really demonstrate what we’re all about. There are strict rules in the Volkwagen group. Whatever we do, we have the backing of the board.”