Ford Kuga: Coming or not?

Ford is on track to introduce an update of its Kuga compact SUV, which reignites speculation about its possibilities as part of the company's Australian lineup.

Having already impressed the press on a European drive programme two years ago, the Dualis-like Kuga shows potential as a significant seller for Ford in Australia, below the Territory and below the languishing Mazda Tribute-based Escape.

In fact at the 2008 international launch, the Kuga drew expectations that an Australian release would come relatively quickly, maybe as soon as 2009. That date might have slipped past, but the Kuga's market potential hasn't, even if Ford Australia doesn’t have it on the agenda. Communications manager Sinead McAlary says the company’s position has not changed since the international launch and it “has no plans at this point” of bringing the Kuga on board.

Given its generational advantages over Escape, and the fact it is built in AWD and 2WD form, the Kuga still has the potential of being an alluring product in the local Ford lineup.

According to Carsales Network experiences with the neat-looking SUV, it would appear to be a slightly bigger alternative to Nissan's similarly-styled Dualis that offers a diesel engine and a fold-down luggage capacity of 1355-litres.

The Carparazzi spy pics shown here don't give anything away where details of the facelift are concerned, but the suggestion that the front end will become a bit more aggressive seems reasonable.

The usual rear-end mods could be expected to apply. Basic specs are not expected to change, with the facelift Kuga sticking by the existing engine/transmission lineup, including manual and auto gearboxes as well as the 2.0-litre turbodiesel used in right hand drive versions.

The Facelifted Kuga is expected to be shown for the first time at next year's Geneva motor show.

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