FLEET, BUSINESS
ANOTHER WAY

A five-star approach to safety

New CUPRAs are loaded with state-of-the-art technology to keep driver, passengers and the vehicle safe

The extraordinary pace of change in automotive means ideas that once sounded like science fiction are now fitted as standard to popular mainstream models. And nowhere is this more the case than in vehicle safety.

New cars bristle with radars, cameras and sensors to keep vehicles and their occupants safe while simultaneously protecting other road users, bringing peace of mind both to drivers and to employers who have a duty of care towards staff who drive for business.

As vehicles have become significantly safer, there is a risk of being lulled into a sense that they are all as safe as each other. But, to crib George Orwell’s Animal Farm, all cars may be equal; but some cars are more equal than others.

With a relentless focus on ensuring its cars offer maximum protection to drivers, CUPRA has scored a five-star Euro NCAP rating across its entire product range, the highest level achievable. The UK’s fastest-growing car brand may have an enviable reputation for exhilarating performance, but it is also a leader in safety technology.

The new all-electric CUPRA Born provides a perfect example, offering a long list of standard safety features, including:

• seven airbags
• autonomous emergency braking (which the insurance testing body Thatcham has shown to cut rear end accidents by 38%)
• lane-assist
• adaptive cruise control with a speed limiter
• front light assist (dipping full-beam headlamps when another vehicle approaches)
• dynamic roadside display that captures road sign speed limits to keep drivers aware of the prevailing limit
• pre-crash assist (which automatically tightens seatbelts and closes windows prior to an impact).

There is also exit assist, which warns of traffic approaching from a blindspot behind, and exit warning, a valuable audio-visual alert that warns against opening a car door into oncoming traffic, cyclists or e-scooter riders. Both of these features are available as an option.

Further perils of city driving are addressed by front assist, which, as its name suggests, detects pedestrians and cyclists in front of a vehicle, and optional side assist that keeps a watchful eye out for any dangers entering the car’s blindspot.

Ed Garrott, CUPRA commercial manager, says: “We know that ABI (Association of British Insurers) insurance group ratings are coded to take into account safety features that are fitted as standard to cars, and insurers factor these codes into their pricing, which should help fleet managers to reduce their premiums.”

“We have had lots of feedback on how well this technology reduces the incidence of minor bumps and scrapes in car parking spaces”

Stepping up a trim level brings an augmented reality head-up display, “which enhances safety because it puts key driver information directly in front of the driver,” adds Garrott.

This means drivers can follow navigation instructions without diverting their eyes from the windscreen and the road ahead. 

Fleet decision-makers will also be pleased to see front and rear sensors as standard across the CUPRA models, and even more sophisticated front and rear cameras are available on the Born and Formentor to help avoid the annoying dings and scuffs from low-speed manoeuvres.

“We have had lots of feedback on how well this technology reduces the incidence of minor bumps and scrapes in car parking spaces,” says Garrott.

In fact, the challenger brand’s intelligent and trained park assist features takes the pressure of parking away from drivers, controlling the steering and brakes as the car parks itself.

Acknowledging that a driver remains the central player in road risk, CUPRA has also introduced as standard across its entire range a driver alert system that recognises tiredness by sensing the driver’s intervention on the steering wheel, and sounding an alert when it detects tiredness.

Such technology might have seemed far-fetched just a handful of years ago, but such is the relentless pace of progress that new features are now capturing the imagination. The optional travel assist, for example, combines adaptive cruise control, with lane-assist to take the stress out of driving on busy motorways, while the optional Car 2X gives a flavour of the future of connected driving.

“Vehicles connected by Car 2X can communicate with each other locally wirelessly and without the need for a mobile phone signal, informing the driver in advance about any incident on the road such as road works, an accident or a traffic jam, allowing them to plan accordingly,” adds Garrott.

Why three is the magic number

By simplifying trim levels to just three options, CUPRA is making life easier for fleets delivering vehicles more quickly and efficiently than rivals

For fleet decision-makers trying to establish a company car choice list or drivers looking to choose their next car, vehicle trim levels can provide a confusing alphabetti spaghetti of acronyms and one-word descriptions. Is a GL better specified than an LS? Will a Dynamic be more richly equipped than an Excel? Does an Active have more, er, allure than an Allure?

And then there’s CUPRA, which offers a simple trim walk with V1, V2 and V3 and for their higher powered engines VZ1, VZ2 and VZ3.

“Having a simpler line-up, with a clear walk between the different trims makes it much easier for customers to understand,” says Aidan Whitwell, CUPRA product marketing manager.

“When customers are choosing a car, it can be a very complex piece of research, so we want to make it as easy as possible to understand our line-up.”

“Less complexity with our models at the factory means shorter lead times, which means we have good availability for both Born and Formentor, and will do for Leon V1 when manufacturing starts”

As a challenger brand in the premium sector, CUPRA has gone overboard with its equipment levels, making sure the appeal of its dramatic styling and dynamic performance doesn’t stop when a customer climbs into the driving seat. Perhaps the biggest challenge for buyers is scrolling through the generous specification levels of the V1 and puzzling what else a higher trim level could offer.

Study the equipment list of the Born V1 with a fine toothcomb, for example, and you will see how strong the specification is.  The V2 trim builds on this with heated seats, tinted rear windows, a larger alloy wheel at 19” and an augmented reality head-up display.

Perhaps the most telling difference between the three levels to other motorists is the size of the wheels – the Born V1 rolls on 18-inch alloys, the V2 on 19-inch alloys and the V3 on 20-inch aerowheels, with options to upgrade further to glossy black and copper-detailed wheels as well as different metallic paints.

“We want to be offering customers the simplicity that our cars have everything you need, while still retaining the ability to personalise the cars,” says Whitwell.

“With the simple trim line-up across all CUPRA cars, it’s easy for fleet managers to put choice lists together and it helps company car drivers choose the car that meets their needs,” adds Whitwell. “We also get really positive feedback from leasing companies that our approach helps them to set their rentals.”

The steady progression from V1 to V2 and V3, which is mirrored on their performance cars with VZ1, VZ2 and VZ3, allows employers to feature the same model of CUPRA in different choice bands.

If this approach is winning support among fleet and business customers and their drivers, it’s also proving hugely successful for CUPRA internally, by enhancing the efficiency of the product planning process.

“Less complexity with our models at the factory means shorter lead times, which means we have good availability for both Born and Formentor” says Whitwell.

In an industry plagued by lengthy and unreliable delivery times, this quicker, simpler production schedule might prove to be the biggest win of all – interestingly, the simple trim level strategy started in the UK, and is now being adopted by CUPRA in other markets.