Cupra’s factory at Martorell, just outside Barcelona, has seen some major changes ahead of the start of production of the updated Formentor and Leon models.
So what’s new for Cupra?
Some of the changes are purely aesthetic - for instance, these new models are the first to feature Cupra’s latest LED three-triangle eye ‘light signature’, which is changing the look of the production line as the cars roll along.
There are also new colours, as the models include Century Bronze Matt and Enceladus Grey Matt as paint options.
There must be more significant changes, though, right?
Oh yes. Aside from the look of the new models, Cupra has also changed the way in which they’re made. A new Formentor - of which Cupra has sold almost 350,000 since it was first launched, making it the sport and electric brand’s best-selling car so far - and Leon roll off the Catalan production line every 69 seconds, which you’d think doesn’t leave a lot of time for checking that they’re all put together properly.
However, Cupra is saving massive amounts of time with clever new technology, such as the new Prüfer Digital setup. This is an automated workstation within the main production line that Cupra says uses “an artificial vision system that controls the presence, position and condition of different parts mounted in the vehicle, with more than 60 simultaneous control points that focus on both mechanics and wiring.”
What else is going on?
Well, there’s the Smart Plug system, in which the 90-plus electronic control units fitted to each car can be started up remotely to ensure that they’ve all been connected properly and are working as they ought to. Impressively, Smart Plug can activate all the electronic boxes of up to 45 cars at a time, dramatically speeding up the production process.
The innovation of which Cupra is currently most proud, though, is the new KTL paint oven. It’s an ‘electric transversal oven’ and the first such design in use in the whole VW Group. It’s used as part of the paint-drying process, providing an anti-corrosion layer, and takes up 42 per cent less space than a conventional oven, thanks to a reduction in length. It also reduces energy consumption by up to 25 per cent.
“We’re working to transform and enhance the factory, integrating the most advanced technologies in its manufacturing and structural processes”, explains Markus Haupt, Cupra’s Vice-President for Production and Logistics, who’s responsible for the €3-billion investment in Martorell to ensure production of these new Cupra models (and some Seat models too) stays on track into the future, on what Cupra says is “a more agile, sustainable and profitable on the road to electrification.“