Ford Puma confirmed for Oz

Ford Australia has announced that the Euro-designed Ford Puma SUV will go on sale in Australia during the second half of 2020.

But the company won't presently reveal anything that we didn't already know about the Puma, which will be the replacement for the slow-selling EcoSport.

However, Product Communications Manager for Ford Australia, Damion Smy, has told carsales this morning that the Puma won't be the bargain-basement model the EcoSport is.

"We're really excited about it because the Escape is coming in the second half of this year as well," Smy said.

"That will give us two Euro SUVs with the latest styling in the two most hotly-contested segments in Australia.

"We've got... old vehicles in [those segments] at the moment, so Puma is going to hopefully give us a bit of a lift..."

The larger Escape has been unveiled overseas and will be sold in Australia with a plug-in hybrid variant in the range.

Smy said that pricing and specification for the Puma is still being decided by Ford Australia, so there's no real news on that front.

However, it appears that Ford will position the Puma to run up hard against competitors such as the new Mazda CX-30, although at 4186mm in length the Puma is about 200mm shorter than the CX-30, and shorter even than the CX-3. But Ford sounds committed to packing a lot of kit into the Puma for Australian buyers. That is expected to include the latest infotainment and active safety systems.

"It will be a highly-contented car," Smy said. "There's not going to be a $19,990 base model, hub-capped kind of version. It will follow the strategy of our other SUVs..."