CUPRA JOINS VOLKSWAGEN GROUP’S EUROPE-WIDE INITIATIVE FOR GREATER ROAD SAFETY

• CUPRA’s all-electric line-up, including Tavascan, Born and Raval in the future, is participating in a Volkswagen Group initiative to use vehicle and traffic information to optimise driver assistance systems and help make roads safer
• Initiative brings together sensor and image data and information from real traffic situations from around 40 European countries starting January 2026
• The goal is to continuously improve driver assistance systems and automated driving functions through software updates
• Privacy compliance and data protection regulations are strictly observed. Customer consent is a fundamental prerequisite for the transfer and processing of data
• As part of the Volkswagen Group initiative, CUPRA wants to make a positive contribution to overall safety for every road user

Milton Keynes, 27-01-2026 – CUPRA is helping power improvements to road safety across Europe using embedded technologies in its fully electric vehicle line-up as part of a Volkswagen Group initiative.

Building on successful experiences made by Volkswagen Group in Germany, CUPRA, with the help of Tavascan, Born, and shortly Raval customers, will utilise sensor and image data and information from real traffic situations to continuously optimise driver assistance systems and automated driving functions.

With data coming in from around 40 European countries, ongoing enhancements to driving functionality will increase comfort and make a positive contribution to overall road safety, while customers can benefit from these improvements through simple, intuitive software updates, making the benefits seamless.

As part of the Volkswagen Group’s vehicle fleet, CUPRA is already contributing to improved road safety today. Vehicles use anonymised swarm data to generate high-resolution maps. This helps vehicles maintain lane guidance on roads without lane markings. It also enables precise driving recommendations and hazard alerts, which can be refined by local weather conditions. This “wisdom of the crowd” is already making road traffic safer for everyone.

The work isn’t stopping, and our engineers aim to use data from real driving situations – significantly more practical than tests with prototypes or simulations – to design assistance functions customers perceive as effective to ideally keep activated at all times. Active systems not only enhance safety for the drivers, but for all road users. CUPRA’s all-electric vehicles with their suite of onboard advanced assisted driving systems will add to the range of data available to the Volkswagen Group initiative, adding a further depth of knowledge and helping improve safety.

CUPRA engineers are focused on particular scenarios where driver assistance systems are especially useful. These can include traffic situations involving cyclists and pedestrians, such as intersection traffic near an elementary school, or busy, complex supermarket parking lots.

Continuous data transmission for this purpose does not take place. Data transmission can be triggered by the emergency braking assistant, manual full braking, and sudden evasive manoeuvres. Certain sensor, functional, and image data are particularly relevant in these cases. These include camera images of the vehicle’s surroundings and detection results from the environment sensors, as well as driving direction, speed, and steering angle. Information on weather, visibility, and lighting conditions also plays an important role.

It's incredibly important, especially for vulnerable road users. The vehicle should analyse movements at pedestrian crossings and sidewalks as accurately as possible. If the camera detects pedestrians moving toward the street – for instance, playing children – the vehicle can proactively build up brake pressure to enable even faster braking in an emergency.

Data collection and transmission may also include other vehicles or road users such as pedestrians and cyclists in the immediate surroundings. This is essential because camera-based systems must visually classify objects and people accurately, even under challenging conditions, and correctly assess complex traffic situations.

All data protection regulations are, of course, strictly observed and implemented. Individual information about people in the traffic environment is not relevant and  customer consent is a fundamental prerequisite for the transfer and processing of data. CUPRA customer consent can be given via My CUPRA App, while it can be revoked at any time.

Interested parties can review the recording conditions and privacy statements here: Privacy Policy for the Development of ADAS | CUPRA as well as, on CUPRA’s individual market websites and request further information if needed.

CUPRA is committed to making the safest vehicles possible, and through its all-electric Tavascan, Born, and shortly Raval line-up, and its part in the Volkswagen Group-wide initiative, it will help make a positive contribution to overall road safety, while customers will benefit from improvements through software updates to their vehicle’s driver assistance systems.

ENDS

Change needs drivers — and CUPRA believes real progress comes through radical disruption, by defying expectations and challenging conventions. Since its launch in 2018, the brand has transformed the automotive industry as an instigator of creativity and an agitator for change.

In just seven years, CUPRA has launched seven models and sold over 1 million vehicles globally. Every CUPRA model is restlessly expressive, design led, and performance driven. Its fully-fledged portfolio includes the CUPRA Ateca, the first car to ever feature the CUPRA badge; the CUPRA Leon, redesigned and enhanced as a standalone CUPRA model; the CUPRA Formentor, the first car to be developed exclusively by the brand and the company’s best-selling vehicle to date; the CUPRA Born, the brand’s first 100% electric vehicle; the CUPRA Tavascan, an all-electric SUV coupe; and the CUPRA Terramar, the brand’s sporty SUV. In 2026, the CUPRA Raval, the brand’s radical interpretation of the electric urban car, will join its lineup.

CUPRA is more than a car. It’s a conviction. The CUPRA Tribe is made up of a team of ambassadors who push back against convention and past the boundaries that hold others back, with members including Spain’s most decorated Olympian, Saúl Craviotto; film director J.A. Bayona; German goalkeeper Marc ter Stegen; and two-time Ballon d'Or and Best FIFA Award-winning footballer Alexia Putellas. Obsessive about elevating emotion on and off the road, CUPRA is also FC Barcelona's official automotive and mobility partner, the Premier Padel Tour's premium sponsor and is also proud to participate in the Formula E racing competition with Kiro Race Co.

www.cupraofficial.com

For more information, please contact:

Chris Mease, Head of PR and Communications
07586 058302; chris.mease@seatcars.co.uk 

Kate Arding, PR Manager
07500 689543; kate.arding@seatcars.co.uk

Holly Williams, Events and Internal Communications Manager
07738 897319; holly.williams@seatcars.co.uk

Katie Duguid, Press Fleet Manager
07983 537247; katie.duguid@seatcars.co.uk

This news release and illustration are issued in accordance with Clause 1.2J of the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion and therefore cannot be the subject of a transaction of any kind.