New Kuga rips in to Oz

Ford has repositioned its updated Kuga with a staring price of $27,490 (plus on-road costs, down $500) or $28,990 drive-away.

That’s the price for the new entry-grade Ambiente, a front-wheel drive petrol variant offered with a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.

The price shift sees Kuga compete more favourably against its nearest rivals, including the strong selling Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4, and according to Ford Australia’s marketing manager, David Katic, the changes are a result of improving competition and not removing content.

 “We didn’t remove content, we just wanted to make sure we were competitive,” said Katic. “The fact is it’s a cleaner, smarter and safer Kuga than ever before.”

The Kuga Ambiente will feature Ford’s 1.5-litre EcoBoost (turbocharged) four-cylinder engine, as found in models including the Fiesta and EcoSport (and soon Focus). The unit, which replaces the 1.6-litre four-cylinder offered previously, develops 134kW and 240Nm (up 24kW) when mated to the six-speed auto, though power figures are unchanged when matched to the six-speed manual (at 110kW/240Nm).

Fuel consumption for manual variants drops to 6.3L/100km on the ADR Combined cycle (-0.4L), while the automatic is said to use 7.0L/100km on the same test.

No new features, save for an accessory reversing camera, are added. Ford is yet to announce pricing for the dealer-fit option.

The Kuga Ambiente will be topped by an all-wheel drive version, available exclusively with the six-speed automatic transmission, from $31,490 (plus ORCs, pricing unchanged). Like the front-wheel drive variants, it will also be powered by the 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine, and will also be the subject of drive-away pricing deals “for a limited time”. It is available on-road for $32,990.

In the Kuga’s middle and upper reaches are the Trend and Titanium variants, available only in all-wheel drive format, but with the choice of new petrol and diesel engines. Both are mated exclusively to a six-speed automatic transmission.

The 2.0-litre petrol-powered Kuga receives a new higher power 178kW and 345Nm 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine — essentially the same found under the bonnet of Ford’s four-pot Falcon (among others). Ten per cent thirstier than the outgoing 1.6-litre petrol, the stronger new engine uses 8.8L/100km on the ADR Combined cycle.

Trend and Titanium variants are topped by 2.0-litre Duratorq turbo-diesel mill offering 132kW (+12kW) and 400Nm (+60Nm). Like the rest of the Kuga range, the diesel-powered modes are equipped with idle stop-start technology, allowing a combined cycle fuel economy figure of 5.7L/100km (-0.8L).

All Kuga models are offered as standard with SYNC infotainment connectivity, which includes emergency assist, with a powered tailgate optional on Trend and Titanium models, DAB+ digital radio standard on Trend and Titanium models.

An optional safety pack remains available on Trend and Titanium variants and includes autonomous braking, lane-keeping assist, automatic high-beam, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and tyre pressure monitoring (new).

The pack will now be priced from $1600 — a fall of $1000 from its original position — which Katiz says is a response to “consumer feedback [which] says the technology is really important, and we want to make it more accessible”.

Metallic paint is a $385 extra across the line-up.

The five-star ANCAP rated Kuga receives seven airbags and an extensive list of electronic driver aids.

Ford Australia says the refreshed Kuga will attract more customers at the entry end of the medium SUV market, saying the front-wheel drive variants are expected to account for up to one-third of all Kuga sales.

The Medium SUV segment is the third-strongest in the current new vehicle market holding an 11.2 per cent share (or 113,887 units) of passenger car sector.

Locally, the Kuga holds a 5.3 per cent share of segment sales, and has year-to-date sold 5438 units (to the end of November 2014). The figures place the Kuga in eighth place behind the Kia Sportage (5890), Honda CR-V (8598), Mitsubishi Outlander (8889), Nissan X-TRAIL (11,285), Subaru Forester (12,528), Toyota RAV4 (16,394) and top-seller, the Mazda CX-5 (19,854).

The updated Kuga goes on sale from January 1 (2015).

Visit motoring.com.au again soon for our local launch review of the 2015 Ford Kuga.