Fancy a PERFORMANCE Ford Kuga ST or Edge ST? Tough.

Despite it seeming an obvious move – and being available in the US – Ford says it won’t deliver ST Performance versions of its Kuga or Edge SUVs in the UK and Europe.

With SUVs still the fastest growing sector in the new car market, it seems obvious that car makers will look to fill every SUV niche possible in an effort to extract the maximum number of sales, including high performance models to cast a glow on the rest of their range.

Premium car makers are making hay with performance SUVs, and even Hyundai look set to deliver a performance Tucson N to sell alongside the very good i30 N (and there’s a SEAT Cupra Ateca in the planning too). But, according to Ford, mainstream car buyers aren’t interested in performance SUVs, at least not in the UK and Europe.

Speaking to Autocar, Ford’s Andy Barratt has said that despite the new Ford Edge coming in full-fat ST guise in the US, there are no plans to do anything similar in the UK, as what UK and European buyers actually want is the look of an ST but without the performance and with a touch of luxury.

Barratt says that on this side of the Pond buyers are opting more and more for the sporty-looking ST-Line models, but that there is no appetite for proper performance versions. So they won’t be happening.

Or at least they won’t be happening unless Hyundai and SEAT see strong sales from their performance SUVs.