Published:
15 July 2024Ford has de-emphasised the previous car’s soft styling even further. It gets a near-ovular front grille, above which sits a light bar if you specify the technology pack, as well as a softer-edged front bumper and redesigned taillights.
We believe both Active and ST-Line trims complement the car's design more successfully than the entry-level car, their additional black gloss trim pieces and sharper-edged front bumpers giving the Kuga a tougher, harder-edged look that many buyers look for at this end of the market. This is evidenced by the fact that both Ford and Volkswagen expect their sportiest trims, ST-Line and R-Line, to be their best-sellers.
The Kuga is underpinned by Ford's C2 platform which is also used by the Focus hatchback. Being 4614mm in length, 1883mm in width and 1678mm in height, it's both shorter, narrower and lower than the Volkswagen Tiguan and Volvo XC60, but slightly larger than a Toyota RAV4.
Aside from the lack of a diesel option, the engine line-up has remained unchanged from the pre-facelift car. We're focusing on the PHEV, however, which uses a 14.4kWh battery pack mated to an electric motor. The system offers an electric-only driving range of 41 miles, and is similar to that used by Toyota in that power is sent through a CVT gearbox. This puts it somewhat short of the Volkswagen Tiguan e-Hybrid (71 miles), the Toyota RAV4 (46 miles), and the BMW X1 25e (51 miles).
