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Lexus NX250 vs Cupra Ateca

What's the difference?

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Lexus NX250
Lexus NX250

$55,490 - $69,990

2023 price

Cupra Ateca
Cupra Ateca

2025 price

Summary

2023 Lexus NX250
2025 Cupra Ateca
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Inline 4, 2.5L

Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

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Fuel Efficiency
6.9L/100km (combined)

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Seating
5

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Dislikes
  • Driver-assist tech could use some Aussie road tuning
  • Hard to tell apart from previous design
  • NX 250 engine needs the open road to truly shine

  • Safety tech could be more cutting edge
  • Fuel economy on the high side
  • No head-up display
2023 Lexus NX250 Summary

As far as clichés go, attempting to make “a silk purse from a sow’s ear” couldn’t be more apt than when contemplating the original NX of 2014.

What was essentially the Lexus-fication of the vocal, fidgety and thirsty old Toyota RAV4 may have worked a treat sales-wise, but proved trickier when assessed against the lens of a BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60 rival.

The earliest NX just wasn’t refined enough.

This was especially true following the reborn RAV4 arrival in 2019, proving to be embarrassingly more competent – even compared to most luxury midsized SUV alternatives.

Now, finally, the NX redesign has followed suit, moving on to a variation of the Toyota’s stronger, quieter and more advanced TNGA architecture (dubbed GA-K) as a starting base.

Speaking of which, let’s dive straight into the least-expensive version, the NX 250 Luxury 2WD auto, to find out if the most popular Lexus model in Australia has finally found its mojo.

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Interested in a Lexus NX250?
2025 Cupra Ateca Summary

Not many people even know what a Cupra Ateca V is… and this is the second best thing about this small SUV. The first best thing is that Cupra is owned by Volkswagen.

So, this means you can have your mysterious SUV not many other people drive while knowing it’s underpinned by one of the largest car manufacturers in the world which makes cars millions of people drive and one which also has a reputation for high quality vehicles.

The big news here is the Ateca model range has a new and lower entry fee with the arrival of this V grade. See, until now the only Ateca Australians could buy is the high-performance VZx which while really sporty also came with a pretty big price tag.

So, how much is the Ateca V and what do you get for the money? We found this out at the Australian launch along with how practical and safe it is and what it’s like to drive.

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Interested in a Cupra Ateca?

Deep dive comparison

2023 Lexus NX250 2025 Cupra Ateca

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