Ford Puma petrol axed, but EV version still locked in

Ford Australia has announced that it will discontinue the current Ford Puma small SUV by mid-2024, claiming that it will “make way for growth opportunities” in the performance, commercial and EV segments.

That’s not to say the Puma nameplate is disappearing completely – the battery-electric 2025 Ford Puma Gen-E, as it’s known, is still primed to launch Down Under.

The compact EV is being unveiled in Europe tonight as part of a broader mid-life facelift for the Puma, just as this article goes live, with Ford Australia having embargoed its announcement without providing details on the Gen-E – including specifications and launch timing.

We expect that the EV, which was confirmed as being a starter for Australia back in April 2023, will show up here during 2025.

Final local deliveries of the current three-cylinder turbo-petrol Puma are expected to be made in May before supplies are exhausted – and that could take a few months, given the large numbers of new and ex-demo stock listed on carsales.com.au.

“Our focus is on vehicles and in segments where we can really meet the unique needs of Australian customers,” said Ford Australia president and CEO Andrew Birkic.

“We see particular opportunities in commercial vehicles – from Transit to E-Transit, Transit Custom to E-Transit Custom, alongside Ranger.

“We will also continue to focus on our performance line-up – from Mustang and Mustang Dark Horse to Mustang Mach-E and Ranger Raptor – alongside a renewed emphasis on vehicles that help customers do the things they love, like towing a boat or caravan in an F-150, off-roading with friends in an Everest, or road-tripping with a large family in a Tourneo.

“We have not taken this decision lightly and thank the many loyal customers who have chosen Puma over the years.”

As seen by the monthly VFACTS sales figures, the vast majority of Ford’s sales come from the Ranger ute, followed by the related Everest SUV.

The Blue Oval brand sold 2027 examples of the Puma in Australia last year, which was down 15.8 per cent on the previous year.

Since launch in September 2020, Ford has sold only 8430 examples of the Fiesta-based SUV in our market.

And that’s despite light/small SUVs becoming one of the fastest-growing segments.

By comparison, Mazda sold 15,776 examples of the CX-3 in Australia last year, while other volume-selling models in this high-riding hatch category include the Kia Stonic (6983), Toyota Yaris Cross (6514) and Hyundai Venue (6152).

The European-sourced Puma’s main rival, the Volkswagen T-Cross, also comfortably outsold it last year with 5762 sales to its name – twice as many as the Puma, with a comparable premium starting price at just over $30,000 plus on-road costs.

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