The Cupra Born, the Spanish company’s topped and tailed VW ID.3, only arrived on the market in September 2021, meaning it hasn’t even had its second birthday. But we’ve seen camouflaged versions of a facelifted car running around as early as September 2022, and our spy photographers have now snapped another one putting on some test miles in preparation for a 2024 update.
The ID.3, which was criticized at launch for its cheap interior plastics and fiddly multimedia system, recently received a minor refresh to address those complaints, but it’s inline for more updates next year when a new 12.9-in screen and powerful dual-motor option will be added. And it will make sense for Cupra to release its facelifted Born in time to take advantage of those features next spring.
To the surprise of many, the Born already had a better quality interior than the ID.3, so Cupra has no need to fast-track the facelift on that account. But it won’t want to leave the Born in production too long without giving it the new corporate face seen on the brand’s second EV, the Tavascan SUV. The Model Y rival was revealed earlier this year and will land in dealers in 2024.
Related: 2024 Cupra Formentor Set To Get A Tavascan-Inspired Facelift
Though this Born prototype’s disguise makes it hard to see the finer details of the front end redesign, we can make out the much taller intakes in the side of the front bumper that point to the refreshed car getting the same gaping black mouth treatment seen on the Tavascan, or the slightly less demonic version used on the facelifted Formentor and new Terramar hybrid SUV. We can’t see any rear changes in these images, but you can be sure that the bumper and taillights will have come in for some tweaking by the time the launch rolls around.
The other unconfirmed change could be the addition of a bi-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain option to give the Born the muscle to back up the performance promise made by the aggressive styling. Currently, the model is available in RWD guise with two different power outputs – 148 hp (110 kW / 150 PS) and 228 hp (170 kW / 231 PS) – but stealing the 295 hp (220 kW / 299 PS) AWD setup from the VW ID.3 GTX would turn the Born into a proper hot hatch.
Cupra was noncommittal at the Born’s original launch about the possibility of a hotter version, but given that the brand is meant to be the performance hero in the VW Group portfolio, it seems like a logical step.
