Seat Tarraco axed to make room for Cupra Terramar

Tarraco had been on sale in the UK since 2018

Cupra’s hybrid-only family SUV is confirmed as the effective replacement for Seat’s biggest model

The Seat Tarraco has been axed to make way for sibling brand Cupra’s new Terramar SUV, Autocar can reveal.

Seat’s family SUV, which is closely related to the previous-generation Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, had been on sale in the UK since 2018.

Seat said in a statement: “The Seat Tarraco has been a success. But there will be no Tarraco successor.

“From mid-2024, we will focus on the new Cupra Terramar in the segment, and it will fill this space very well.

“The Tarraco will then be phased out; it will end its production by Q2 2024.”

The Terramar, which is 0.2m shorter than the Tarraco, will arrive in the UK with a range of mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid petrol powertrains. The latter is said to be capable of achieving around 62 miles under electric-only propulsion, putting it on a par with the new plug-in Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Superb estates.

The new SUV will prove key in the expansion of the Cupra’s brand, targeting one of the market’s biggest-selling segments. It will also be Cupra’s final combustion-engined car as it looks to go all-electric in 2030.

Seat, meanwhile, has emphasised its ongoing rebound from the pandemic-induced semiconductor shortage. “Sales of the Seat brand in 2023 grew 24%, reaching 288,400 cars sold,” it said in its statement.

The brand added that it will now move to update its remaining models – the Ateca, Arona, Ibiza and Leon – “to continue offering plug-in hybrid and fuel-efficient cars until the end of the combustion era”.