Hispano Switzerland is a historic automobile brand owned by the Suqué Mateu family. Created in 1904 - it will soon be 120 years old -, it stopped producing cars in 1946. However, in 2018, Miguel Suqué Mateu, great-grandson of Damián Mateu, one of the founders of the company, announced his return as a manufacturer of exclusive hypercars. electrical. Thus, it revealed to the world its first creation of this new era at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. It is the Carmen, a 1,019 HP supercar, which has its most radical version in Boulogne (it develops 1,114 HP and offers improved performance). Both dream models are handcrafted in Barcelona, in a very limited production and at a price within the reach of few pockets (around a million and a half euros).
Now the prestigious automobile company has announced the name of its next launch: the Sagrera. This version of the Carmen is scheduled to be presented in 2024, coinciding with the company's 120th anniversary. Beyond what it will be called, hardly any information about the car itself has emerged. It is known that it will mount the new 103kW battery that is already being tested on the Carmen Boulogne and will represent an important evolution in terms of aerodynamics.
Sergio Martínez Campos, CEO of Hispano Switzerland, highlights that this specimen “establishes the foundations of the design line that the brand will follow in the coming years.” As the company itself explains in a statement, “it has been created to keep the legend alive, raising performance, sportiness and passion for luxury to a new level.”
As happened with the name of the Carmen, which paid tribute to Carmen Mateu Quintana (mother of the president of the company, Miquel Suqué Mateu), the name of the new model also has its reason for being. Specifically, it refers to the roots of Hispano Switzerland in the Barcelona neighborhood of La Sagrera, where it moved in 1911, when there was great industrial activity in the area. It was the company's first large factory and coincided with an increase in production.
It was located on the Ribas road, where it occupied an area of 50,000 square meters and underwent two expansions to meet the needs of the market. The Hispano Switzerland factory employed 1,800 people.
For Miguel Suqué Mateu, president of Hispano Switzerland, “La Sagrera played an important role in the history of Hispano Switzerland, contributing significantly to our growth as a company. Now, coinciding with our 120th anniversary, the time has come for us to pay tribute to La Sagrera and we will do so by carrying the name of this Barcelona neighborhood with pride throughout the world, together with our new hypercar.”
It is not the first time that a brand names a car model with a similar criterion, to honor the city of Barcelona. Without going any further, Cupra is marketing the compact electric Born and will launch another model that will be called Raval.
