The Cupra Formentor you want – the 306bhp Formentor VZ2 – on sale from £39,830

The new Cupra Formentor – the first Cupra that’s not a SEAT – goes on sale in the UK, with the performance versions starting at £39,830 for the VZ2.

The Cupra Formentor, trumpeted as the first Cupra that’s not a SEAT, arrived as a concept eighteen months ago, and it took Cupra/SEAT another year to deliver the production version of the Formentor.

Now, more than seven months on from its reveal, the Cupra Formentor is finally going on sale in the UK, with prices starting at just under £40k for a Formentor you actually want.

That means a ‘VZ’ Formentor with the 2.0 litre turbo petrol good for 306bhp, with drive sent to all four wheels through a seven-speed DSG ‘box.

The starting point for the ‘VZ’ is initially the Formentor VZ2 which comes with the aforementioned powertrain as well as 10.25″ digital instruments and 12″ infotainment, heated Nappa leather seats, parking sensors, 19″ alloys, sports suspension with adaptive dampers and ‘safety’ stuff like High Beam Assist and Adaptive Cruise. It costs from £39,830.

But if you want a bit more than the VZ2, Cupra are happy to oblige with the Formentor VZ3 adding uprated brakes and copper/Black alloys for £42,200 and the Formentor VZ Edition a panoramic roof too. There will also be a VZ1.

Eventually, sitting below the ‘real’ Formentors, you’ll be able to spec a 1.5 litre petrol with 148bhp, a 2.0 litre petrol with 187bhp and a 1.4-litre plug-in hybrid with either 201bhp or 242bhp and an EV range of 31 miles, with trim options of V1, V2, VZ1.

Prices for the Formentor will eventually, when all powertrains are on offer, start from £27,300.