New Ford Puma revealed
Ford’s new Puma is revealed as a new small Crossover / SUV to plug the gap between the EcoSport and Kuga. Arrives in the UK early 2020.
Just as the last Puma was spawned off the Fiesta to deliver a funky little coupe to pander to market demands, the new Puma is designed to do the same thing as Ford bolsters its SUV offerings to satisfy a market demand that shows little sign of waning.
And actually, Ford has delivered a Fiesta-based SUV that looks quite individual; not Juke individual, but still not a clone of every other compact SUV popping up every five minutes.
The styling is still ‘Fiesta’, but Ford has given the Puma standout high headlights – not a million miles away from the original Puma – and standalone tail lights too; no full width light bars here, and an overall look which is convincing.
The Puma is bigger than the Fiesta – although it only sits 30mm higher it’s also longer and wider – and Ford has managed to squeeze in a boot which swallows 456 litres of stuff, including a lower load box and a floor that can be re-positioned depending on need.
Under the bonnet the default option is likely to be Ford’s new 48V starter generator mild hybrid setup using the very good 1.0 litre three-pot engine and an 11.5kW integrated starter generator to deliver 123bhp or 153bhp, with the promise of more torque and improved economy, with a seven-speed dual-clutch box on the 153bhp version. There will also be a 1.5 litre diesel option.
Inside it’s pretty much Fiesta, there’s a raft of safety and assistance systems and the whole thing just looks to work.
Prices haven’t been set yet – although expect them to start a bit under £20k – and first customer cars are expected in the UK early in 2020.
Mark Geller says
Feels like a lot of Jag ‘pace’ look here. Not a bad thing…