The battery-powered Cupra Born VZ hot hatch has been an on-again, off-again project for the Spanish auto brand in Australia, but the first (and only) example has now been registered and sold in Australia.
Cupra Artarmon, located just off the Pacific Highway north-west of Sydney, published a series of images and a subsequent sales listing of a pre-facelift Born VZ, claimed to be “one-of-a-kind”.
Priced from $71,990 plus on-road costs, the Dark Forest green hatch is the single VZ unit to arrive in Australia, at over $15,000 more than the run-out price of the standard Born last sold in Australia.
It’s believed to be a production-spec vehicle registered for evaluation purposes in the Australian market. An identical car was shown in Melbourne last July to dealers, customers and media during a launch event for the Cupra Terramar SUV.
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The listing on the dealer’s website was posted and vanished within a day, indicating that a very keen customer snapped it up within 24 hours. It remains unclear when the Born – recently revealed in facelifted 2027 guise – will return to the Australian market.
As for the vehicle itself, the Born VZ is the most powerful version of the electric hatchback sold globally, running a rear-mounted electric motor producing 240kW of power and 545Nm of torque, marking increases of 70kW and 235Nm over the standard 170kW Born that is now sold out in Australia.
As a result, the Born VZ can sprint from 0-100km/h in a claimed 5.6 seconds, and reach a top speed of 200km/h. Other changes under the skin of the VZ include a 79kWh battery pack and a new DCC Sport chassis setup that includes revised dampers, anti-roll bars and rear springs.
Exterior upgrades are limited to wider tyres and the choice of two 20-inch alloy wheel designs (globally): either forged or with 3D copper inserts. Two new exterior paint hues also join the colour palette: Midnight Black and Dark Forest green.
Inside the cabin, the VZ is ready for the racetrack with bucket seats finished in recycled materials. Technology levels have also been improved over the base car, with the fitment of an upsized 12.9-inch infotainment touchscreen that features Cupra’s latest operating system.
CarExpert understands Cupra Australia has been holding off on relaunching the Born while it waits for the facelifted model to become available before staging a full reboot of the electric hatch Down Under, led by the VZ halo variant and with lesser variants to potentially return after a two-year hiatus.
The last Born to officially be sold Down Under had the pre-update 77kWh lithium-ion battery and the highest-output 170kW/310Nm rear e-motor available at the time. The range has subsequently moved to a larger 79kWh battery, while the VZ bumps outputs to 240kW/545Nm and delivers a claimed 0-100km/h time of 5.6 seconds.
In Europe, there’ll be three motor/battery configurations available for the updated Born lineup, all of which include an electric motor driving the rear wheels, and the option of one-pedal driving. The larger 79kWh unit in the facelifted Born Endurance and VZ variants now quotes around 600km of WLTP range.
Following the reveal of the facelifted 2027 model in Europe earlier this month, a spokesperson for Cupra Australia said the local arm is “assessing the feasibility and timing” for the Born, which appears to walk back previously communicated plans to launch the pre-facelift Born VZ hot hatch this month.
“At this stage, we are assessing the feasibility and timing of offering the newly announced Born for our market. As soon as decisions are confirmed, we will share updates,” the spokesperson told CarExpert.
The local Cupra division’s statement comes after a series of local release delays for the Born VZ, which was initially promised for Australia in 2025, then pushed back two or three times to early 2026. While this particular vehicle did arrive here in the latter timeframe, a single production unit isn’t exactly delivering on that promise.
