Volkswagen Group's first Australian EV hatch says adios for now
That said, the Born may not be away for too long. In March this year, Cupra said it was
pushing back the launch the Born VZ hot hatch
from May to December 2025.
A Cupra spokesperson told CarExpert, 'Planning for the next evolution of the Born – including the performance VZ — continues'.
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.
With the Born gone from the local range, Cupra's only pure electric offering right now is the
Tavascan SUV
.
The Born made its global debut in 2021, and was launched in Australia at the end of 2022. While the Born is available in Europe with a variety of motor and battery options, local models all come equipped with a 77kWh battery and a 170kW motor driving rear wheels.
A 240kW/545Nm motor drives the rear wheels in the Born VZ currently sold in Europe.
Under the skin, the Born uses the Volkswagen Group's MEB all-electric architecture, which underpins all of the automaker's EVs apart from a few models from Audi and Porsche.
The Born's closest relation is the Volkswagen ID.3. Both cars share drivetrains, overall silhouette, much of their underlying structure, and doors.
From its launch in December 2022 to the end of May 2025, 1654 Borns have been sold in Australia. The Born's best performance was in 2023, its first full year on sale, when 887 found new homes.
For this calendar year until the end of May, the Born (301) is Cupra's second-best selling model behind the
Formentor SUV
(686).
In the broader EV context, the Born is well behind the market leaders:
Tesla Model Y
(6974),
Model 3
(2583), and
Kia EV5
(2212).
But if we look at just electric hatchbacks, its performance isn't too bad. It's behind the
MG 4
(2017),
BYD Dolphin
(776), and
Hyundai Ioniq 5
(364), but ahead of the
Kia EV6
(228),
GWM Ora
(271),
Renault Megane E-Tech
(138), and
Nissan Leaf
(62).
We know this list includes an eclectic range of models across a variety of sizes and price points, but pinning down the latter can a little tricky as EV pricing tends to move around quite a bit.
Priced at $59,990 before on-road costs since its local launch, the Born had been available for the last few months for $47,090 drive-away.
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