Cupra, a Volkswagen Group-owned brand, has significantly cut prices on the Born electric hatchback, with the model seeing a drop of up to 25% on the car’s previous driveaway price.
Some configurations of the Cupra Born can now be purchased with a driveaway price of $47,090, spotted in stocked cars in Melbourne.
That’s down from the recommended retail price of $59,990 before on-roads costs, which in Victoria were above $3,000, bringing the driveway price to over $63,000.
The spotted example at the $47,090 cited above is in the Quasar Grey colour and features the 82 kWh battery pack, which delivers up to 511 km of range.
This battery pack can be fast charged at up to 170 kW, one of the highest charging rates for electric hatchbacks in Australia.
It’s also on par with the rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Tesla Model 3 and Model Ys regarding peak 170 kW DC charging speeds.
On the AC charging front, the Cupra Born offers 11 kW of AC charging when various other electric hatchbacks in the market are capped at 7 kW.
Although it’s a large battery pack for a small hatchback, the Born doesn’t offer vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities.
The rear-wheel drive powertrain delivers 170 kW of power and a peak torque of 310 Nm, which delivers acceleration of around 7 seconds from 0-100km/h.
Riding on 19-inch alloy wheels, they come with a unique black and copper look in line with Cupra’s copper-look styling.
The Cupra Born was Volkswagen Group’s first EV in the Australian market when it launched in late 2022.
Since the launch, the brand has sold more than 1,300 units. The first year of customer deliveries in 2023 saw 887 units, followed by a more subdued 2024, which saw 439 units sold in the first 11 months of the year.
The Cupra Born remains the only electric offering that the Volkswagen group has successfully sold in the Australian market after seeing constant delays on the ID series electric cars such as the ID.3, ID.4 & ID.5.
In recent months, the ID Buzz electric van has arrived, leading the way for other ID products to make it to our shores.
In the two years of Cupra Born deliveries in Australia, the pricing of the Born has remained relatively consistent. Still, with growing competition in the market and stagnation of EV growth in 2024, it’s put pressure on traditional brands like Cupra to move EV inventory by cutting prices.
This is an interesting time for Cupra to cut prices as the brand plans to bring a new SUV, the Tavascan, in the coming months, which should help the brand expand its EV offerings.
Pricing for the Tavascan has yet to be released, but in the meantime, the Born at $47,090 driveaway might be the best-priced German-made EV on offer in 2025.
See The Driven’s month by month sales data for new EVs in 2024.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.