The BIG Cupra question: will the grey/rose gold love affair ever end?

It happened when the Cupra badge was first revealed. It happened when we first clapped eyes on the Cupra Ateca 4x4. And you said it again when Cupra – VW’s sporty Spanish offshoot – showed us the new Leon eHybrid hot hatch last week.

Nice car’n’all, but seriously, what’s with all the matte grey and copper?

To find out, TG.com went in search of Seat / Cupra’s design chief, Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos. And, whaddayaknow, we found him, er, at the Cupra Leon’s launch party. So, we had to ask. Will Cupra give up on its chosen colours if they suddenly go out of fashion tomorrow?

AMR shakes his head. “Two and half years ago, we were the only ones doing copper highlights on our cars,” he says, hand pressed to his heart like he’s about to give us an operatic rendition of the national anthem. “This is our design code. It is okay for others to copy us, but this is our thing. We’ve been doing it for years.”

But, was there perhaps some pressure to distinguish the new Cupra Leon eHybrid – and its 37 miles of electric battery range – with some fashionable blue or green detailing, like say, a Toyota Prius?

“No, no way,” answers Alejandro. “Blue and green is way too easy. I think we’re now passed having to signify to people that ‘it’s an EV’ with blue or green, to make an environmental statement. Before, that was a kind of code, but now, it’s too common. It’s a gimmick.”

Course, if you don’t like the rose-gold-stealth look, you could always head in the tartan-upholstered direction of the VW Golf GTI MK8...