Ford Puma 2020 Review

Here, we come immediately to the main vulnerability of the 2020 Ford Puma: Its pricing. Well, not so much its pricing as the fact there’s no real bare-bones variant.

It’s not possible to get into a Ford Puma for less than $29,990 plus on-road costs, or $31,990 drive-away.

For Ford salespeople, that’s a bitter pill to swallow when most of the Puma’s light-segment competitors start a lot lower. The Hyundai Venue, for example, can be had for as little as $22,120 plus ORCs and even the Euro-centric Volkswagen T-Cross starts at $2000 below than the cheapest Puma.

Of course, the Ford Puma – whether you choose the entry-level version that has no variant name (tested here), the mid-level ST-Line ($32,340 plus ORCs) or the top-spec ST-Line V –  has no apologies to make when it comes to value for money.

For example, the top-end Ford Puma ST-Line V, at $35,540 before on-roads, is priced below the dearest Mazda CX-3 (which costs $38,450 but does offer all-wheel drive).

Our base-model Puma – particularly with its optional Park Pack – never for one moment left us feeling short-changed.

Whichever Puma you choose, you’ll get Ford’s Driver Assistance Technology suite – which includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, plus lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, traffic sign recognition, driver attention detection, adaptive front fog lights tyre-pressure monitoring, rear parking sensors and cruise control – as part of the deal.

Add the $1500 Park Pack and you also get adaptive cruise control with a stop and go function, lane centring, semi-auto parking capability, front parking sensors and blind spot monitoring.

Money well spent, we reckon. 

The base Puma looks after you pretty well in terms of cabin comfort too: standard sat-nav incorporated into Ford’s SYNC 3 touch-screen infotainment system, wireless phone charging, climate control, seven-speaker audio and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto are all factored in.

Self-dipping LED headlights and a high-res split-view reversing camera are in place too, while our review Puma also featured the massive and optional fixed sunroof which is listed at $2000.

The Puma comes with Ford’s five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and $299 capped-price servicing covering the first 60,000km.

Although the 2020 Ford Puma hit the ground running with a five-star ANCAP safety rating, the base model’s technological tally is hardly greeted by enthusiastic whoops and hollers.

While there’s plenty of advanced safety tech as standard, the Puma’s auto-braking system is low-speed frontal only and there’s no rear cross-traffic alert, no blind-spot monitoring and no front parking sensors without the (recommended) Park Pack. And, where its EcoSport predecessor offered seven airbags, the Ford Puma comes with six.

Look into the cabin though and the base Puma looks worth every cent.

The seat covering may be cloth but it’s high-quality, with the contrasting hand-stitching you tend to look for in an up-spec interior, the architecture is clean and functional with an appropriate amount of soft-touch materials and the equipment is comprehensive with easily-acquainted controls including a tablet-style sat-nav display.

There’s no electronic parking brake – just an old-fashioned lever – but that’s OK. In the base Puma you’ll also find two USB ports, SYNC 3 voice-control functionality, rain-sensing wipers, four one-touch power windows and heated exterior mirrors with puddle lamps. 

Among the Puma range’s few shortfalls are the lack of rear air-vents for the air-conditioning system and no centre fold-down armrest for back-seat passengers. These no-shows are common among light SUVs.

The driveline of the 2020 Ford Puma ironically returns to a dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Though early EcoSport models used a six-speed Getrag dual-clutch which was ultimately dropped in favour of a conventional auto because of functional and reliability issues (as also experienced in early versions of the previous-gen Fiesta), the Puma comes solely with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto that ends up being one of its strongpoints.  

The tiny 92kW/170Nm turbo triple might be smaller than the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder, but despite its diminutive 1.0-litre capacity it delivers surprising performance and, though some pre-planning is advisable for quick overtaking on the open road, it’s well-served by the dual-clutch transmission.

The power delivery, once a slight initial reluctance due to the minuscule capacity is overcome, is nicely linear. The Puma proves to be quick and quiet on the open road, happily cruising at freeway speeds with not much more than 2000rpm showing on the tacho and feeling anything but over-stretched on long uphill gradients.

The four-mode transmission (Normal, Sport, Eco, Slippery and Trail) also tends to avoid the roll-back or roll-forward often experienced in dual-clutch systems in stop-start conditions and the adaptive cruise control’s ability to hold speed with reasonable accuracy on descents is a bit of a lesson to many others.

The Puma’s lane-keeping system is pleasingly progressive, though sometimes a bit too doggedly determined to hold the car in its chosen lane.

The three-cylinder engine is cleaner and more economical than the EcoSport’s four, although in the real world it tends not to be quite as frugal as Ford suggests. Against the official average of 6.3L/100km we recorded 7.7L/100km over a week of driving in mixed conditions, from open-road to urban. Nothing special in the segment.

Ford also asks that the Puma be fuelled with pricier 95 RON premium unleaded petrol, although an E10 petrol/alcohol mix is OK.

The Puma is not really intended as a crammed-to-the-gunwales, long-distance cruiser and the 42-litre fuel tank – down 10 litres on the EcoSport – is in step with that.

It’s reasonable to think people aren’t going to buy an SUV – even a light-class SUV – that’s bereft of space, be it for passengers or luggage.

Reassuringly, the Ford Puma – which apart from its overall length and height is bigger than its EcoSport predecessor – stands up well against Mazda CX-3, Hyundai Venue and Volkswagen T-Cross.

It’s the widest of this bunch and also has the longest wheelbase as well as the biggest boot. It’s quoted at 410 litres and has a handy, doubled-floored arrangement with a space-saver spare hidden deep in its bowels.

With all seats folded, Ford says the Puma will hold a maximum 1170 litres, which is pretty much on par with Mazda, Hyundai and Volkswagen.

Getting stuff on board – such as a full-size mountain bike with one wheel removed – can be managed without too much awkwardness, other than figuring out how to reattach the truly-silly blind covering the boot. With its incomprehensible mix of attachment cords and clips, it’s a cause for despair – particularly for first-time users.

The cabin itself is better than adequate, although Ford’s specs and first-hand experience suggest that, when compared to the EcoSport, the Puma is lacking in rear-seat leg and headroom.

Though the former dimension tends to be compensated by the Puma’s greater front-seat legroom, which allows a bit of fore-aft bargaining, there’s not much – at the end of the day – separating the new from the old.

On the road, the base Puma rides with a little more absorbency than the tighter-sprung ST-Line and ST-Line V versions, but there’s a penalty: a little more body roll in bends.

And although the steering is equally quick going from lock to lock (2.7 turns) and communication with the road via 17-inch alloy wheels wearing 215/55 tyres is brisk, it’s not quite as responsive as the ST-Line V’s 215/50R18 combination.

The 202 Ford Puma is all the things the EcoSport could have been.

With its clean, nicely-balanced and subtly-Euro styling embracing a mix of convincing, cohesive practicality, driveability and performance, the smallest Ford SUV is easy on the eye and unquestionably belongs at the upper end of its segment.

The perky three-cylinder character, the handy levels of standard equipment and the five-star safety credentials suggest there’s nothing that should prevent the Puma from slugging it out with the segment’s best-sellers.

Nothing, that is, except the price structure. In settling on the current three-model line-up, Ford has saddled the Puma with only one deficit: the lack of a real price-leader.

While there’s no argument the cheapest Puma you can buy right now is not equipped to match its premium-end pricing, it’s hard to avoid the thought that many light-class SUV buyers might set their purchasing budgets quite a bit lower.

Why otherwise would the segment’s best-selling Mazda CX-3 be available, give or take a few dollars, for $7000 less than the entry-level Ford Puma?

There appears to be a lot of upcoming action for the new Puma, including the hot ST version now on sale in the UK, so let’s not write off the possibility of Ford looking at broadening its appeal at the lower end of the market as well.

How much does the 2020 Ford Puma cost?
Price: $29,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 92kW/170Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 5.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 121g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2020)