Cupra is set to launch an electric entry-level model by 2025 as part of the ongoing electrification of its line-up.
Speaking as Cupra marked three years as a standalone brand, CEO Wayne Griffiths said the compact EV would be "more than a car for us; it's the future of the car industry in Spain".
"Cupra will help make electric cars available to the masses with an urban, small electric car - and that's a project we're working on with [parent company] the Volkswagen Group."
The new model will sit in the A0 segment, below the upcoming El-Born electric hot hatchback, meaning it will be comparable in size to the Seat Ibiza and Volkswagen Polo.
"This segment is huge in Europe and is going to change to electric cars, and this is the most difficult one to do it on," said Griffiths. "Doing it with cars like the Porsche Taycan at the top end of the market is a bit easier, but doing it with small cars, to make money is a challenge."
Potential designs have been completed, and the new model will likely be officially previewed later this year, should talks with the Volkswagen Group and Spanish authorities be sufficiently advanced. "We need to be ready by 2025", Griffiths said, "so the decisions need to be made this year."
He voiced a commitment to the new car's affordability, suggesting that 'synergies' within the Volkswagen Group and beyond would be key to keeping development costs - and thus final prices - down.
The platform for the new model, Griffiths confirmed, will come from the Group, suggesting Cupra will use the 'MEB-Lite' architecture that Volkswagen is developing for the smallest model in its ID EV line-up.
That means the Cupra model will offer a maximum battery size of 45kWh and could be priced from around £17,800, if it follows the pricing strategy of its German sibling.
Group CEO Ralf Brandstätter previously said that "cars in smaller segments are important and very interesting for us" and promised details of expansion at the lower end of the electric line-up soon. The Volkswagen version will almost certainly launch before those from any sibling brand.
"We've been doing a lot of work on developing individual models for different Volkswagen Group brands," said Griffiths. "The idea is to build the car here in Spain. To make that happen, we need the help of the Spanish government and the European Commission to invest in this transformation."
He emphasised the domestic economical implications of developing an affordable electric car in Spain, suggesting that the creation of jobs is key in a tourism-biased economy that has been particularly harshly impacted by global travel restrictions over the past year.
"Transformation of the car industry is going to be important, not only for building cars here in Martorell but for the whole chain, downstream and upstream," Griffiths said.
Cupra is also in discussions with the Spanish government regarding the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure to avoid a sparse network forming a barrier to the adoption of its EVs.
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More of the usual utterly confused product planning from SEAT/VW. Surely this would be a SEAT model rather than a 'CUPRA' model? Cupra is supposed to be a performance brand which is going to struggle to gain any relevance or recognition at the best of times, without confusing what the 'brand' stands for so early on in it's existence as a stand alone range. This is exactly what VAG did with SEAT years ago- claiming that it would become an Alfa Romeo competitor before making every model in the range an amorphous blob MPV hatch. Baffling. Now they're going to do the same with Cupra.