The hottest automotive brand on the scene CUPRA is known for championing the unexpected. From collaborations with Spanish icon Rosalìa to exploring the future of virtual reality through Metahype, novelty is their speciality. The Barcelona brand brought their vision to Berlin from 21 – 23 April with the world premiere of the CUPRA Tavascan, their new fully-electric SUV. Its design is sleek, sporty and feline with every detail making for a streamlined and impressive new addition to CUPRA’s line-up.
The launch took place to the backdrop of the Berlin ePrix. Two CUPRA drivers raced in the Formula E world championships at the Tempelhof airport circuit. CUPRA’s hand in the electronic racing space is a sign of their desire to support emerging ideas and break barriers, particularly between the physical and digital world. Nowhere is this clearer than their take on virtual reality. Guests were able to put on a headset and slip away into the virtual world of Metahype. It was a surreal experience that can only be described as becoming a character in a video game. Inside Metahype, users could sit inside a CUPRA and interact with every element around them. It was an exciting taste of what the metaverse has to offer when fantasy is brought to life.
The brand’s taste for pioneers is just as present in their collaborations, like with brand ambassador Willow Smith who gave a live performance at the Tavascan world premiere as a hologram. “Anything we do has to provoke,” CUPRA CEO Wayne Griffiths told journalists at an intimate roundtable. Griffiths described having a taste for “emerging, stranger ones” who aren’t driven by status but by pushing boundaries. It makes complete sense, then, that CUPRA will continue to partner with Primavera Sound festival this year which will take place in both Barcelona and Madrid at the beginning of June. Overall, the weekend united Berlin and Barcelona in a way that symbolises the endless possibilities for where CUPRA could go next.
BERLIN TEMPELHOF AIRPORT, GERMANY – APRIL 22: Robin Frijns, ABT CUPRA Formula E Team, M9Electro during the Berlin ePrix at Berlin Tempelhof Airport on Saturday April 22, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sam Bagnall / LAT Images)
photography. Courtesy of CUPRA
words. Shama Nasinde
