WE all understand how David Bowie impressed inventive varieties the world over.
He influenced music, movie and artwork. He was a genius.
However I by no means anticipated to search out out that he’s shaping the way forward for vehicles, even after his demise.
Wayne Griffiths is the worldwide boss of Seat and Cupra and he lives by the next mantra: “I don’t know the place I’m going from right here however I promise I gained’t bore you.”
Should you’ve not heard that one earlier than, that’s basic Bowie.
Griffiths, 55, stated: “There are many issues that inspire me from David Bowie.
"That quote particularly. I used it at my fiftieth birthday.
“There are these sensible asses who say, ‘Oh yeah, we now have a plan and we all know precisely how that is going to pan out’ or, ‘We've got our model technique and that is going to be like this’.
“Should you write the guide earlier than you’ve finished the story, then it’s going to be boring since you’re going to base it on expertise and previous.
“We are going to write the Cupra story after we end it. On the finish. When it’s finished.
“As a result of in case you outline earlier than you understand the place you might be precisely going, then you aren't going to do something actually cool.
“Bowie was outstanding as a result of he all the time reinvented himself. He was all the time up to date.
"He didn’t do stuff all people preferred, however all the time there have been some individuals who cherished it. I went to so many Bowie concert events on the Birmingham NEC and all the way down to London.”
Now let’s contemplate the outstanding rise of Cupra.
As little as 4 years in the past Cupra meant go-faster Seat. Like Volkswagen’s GTI or Ford’s ST.
However Griffiths has reinvented Cupra as a standalone model that’s already profitable automotive “Oscars” for being edgy, cool, provocative and a little bit of a insurgent.
Sound acquainted?
Griffiths stated: “After we do a design presentation, if all people likes the automotive, then we’ve finished one thing fallacious.
“We wish to make vehicles that stand for one thing.
“So we could have some individuals say, ‘I don’t prefer it. I feel it’s too provocative’ or, ‘It goes too far’.
“But when there are three or 4 youthful individuals within the room which might be our goal group, the following era, with the mindset to say, ‘I really like this, that is nice,’ then that motivates us to go additional.”
The primary pure Cupra — not a re-hashed Seat — is the Cupra Formentor.
That has proved a giant hit with prospects and journos alike, for its daring design and luxurious as a lot as for its blistering real-world efficiency.
And who doesn’t love that Area Invaders-style copper brand?
The all-electric Cupra Born arrives subsequent, in March, and Griffiths has already confirmed Tavascan, an even bigger, battery-powered SUV, can be prepared for 2024.
Griffiths and his group are additionally main growth of a low-cost city EV for the VW Group.
All variations — for VW, Skoda, Seat and Cupra — can be in-built Spain from 2025.
The Cupra UrbanRebel idea is a little bit of a stretch with that cartoon rear wing nevertheless it does at the least give us a glimpse of what’s to come back.
Truly, as regards to wings, Mancunian Griffiths deserves credit score for making Cupra fly regardless of virtually two years of hibernation and semiconductor points.
Gross sales topped 70,000 final yr, 10,000 within the UK, and the boss expects to double that in 2022.
He informed me: “I stated to my group, ‘You possibly can react in one in all two methods to this Covid disruption. You possibly can see it as a danger, stand nonetheless and attempt to shield your place, or see it as a chance’.
“We noticed it as a chance — to hurry up electrification, which was later in our plans again then, and to launch a brand new model.
“Cupra is a brand new model. It doesn’t have any heritage. After we launched Cupra three years in the past lots of people stated, ‘These guys are loopy’ and, ‘That is only a advertising factor. There isn’t any substance behind it to make this work.’
“It has labored. The one factor we acquired fallacious was the extent of our ambition. The volumes are enormous.
“We predict the following era of mobility customers are in search of completely different options.
“Not solely when it comes to mobility, paying for mobility, and never proudly owning vehicles, but additionally in search of new manufacturers.
"You possibly can see it with the unimaginable success of a number of the rising new manufacturers within the electrical period.
"Tesla, clearly, however you see what Nio is doing, Polestar, Lynk & Co, a number of them from China.
"I feel the following era of buyer is in search of new solutions, which could possibly be a brand new model as effectively, and in search of a distinct model to what their grandfathers or father have pushed, and a model that may give them one thing that’s not simply heritage or status, a model that may say one thing about what they stand for as an individual.”
An instance of that's the reclaimed sea plastics utilized in Cupra Born.
Griffiths stated: “Should you reside in Spain and go to the seaside, you see all of the plastic bottles that get washed up from the ocean.
“To know that we're taking these plastic bottles out of the ocean to recycle them for the seats of our Born, that makes the automotive actually particular.
After we do a design presentation, if all people likes the automotive, then we’ve finished one thing fallacious.
Wayne Griffiths
“It offers individuals a superb feeling. Not solely does the automotive look nice, not solely is it zero emissions, you’re doing one thing good for the setting with the recycled content material.
“On prime of that, we wished to point out with Born that electrical vehicles will not be simply rational issues, they are often attractive and enticing and enjoyable to drive.”
There’s plenty of different cool stuff to come back from Cupra.
Griffiths hinted at subscription companies, sport and gig tickets for “Cupra Tribe” members and one thing else I promised I wouldn’t point out for now.
Griffiths stated: “I like the concept of a model world. We're taking a look at different merchandise in addition to simply vehicles for Cupra.”
We like Griffiths. He’s a maverick. He’s not had a Cupra tattoo, like one in all his lieutenants, however he’s definitely not boring.
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