Updated Ford Kuga Coming Soon: Specs, price and release info

Mid-size SUVs and crossovers like the Ford Kuga now dominate the new car market, the plug-in hybrid version of this popular model a top seller across Europe in a very competitive field of rivals through 2021, 2022 and – by projections – 2023 as well. But nothing stands still in such a hard-fought sector and while practical and good to drive the Kuga’s onboard tech was showing its age, hence a range-wide update built around a bigger screen and more powerful Sync 4 operating system. A new face with a full-width light bar, freshened up headlights and some new trims complete the package while the introduction of an all-wheel drive Active version claims some degree of off-road toughness.
• With the Fiesta gone and the Focus on borrowed time the Kuga is core to Ford’s family car line-up • Engine line-up carried over from existing car, with 1.5-litre petrol and 2.5-litre petrol engines, the latter with various levels of hybrid assistance • Plug-in hybrid can cover nearly 37 miles on electric power only and a total of 560 between fill-ups when combined with the petrol engine • Revised Kuga is on sale now

While the overall shape of the updated Kuga is fundamentally the same as before Ford has taken the opportunity to sharpen up the looks a tad with new LED headlights linked by an illuminated bar, restyled bumpers and new rear lights as well. The grille is also different and the model range has been simplified into three trim levels – Titanium, ST-Line and Active – to make choosing your new car easier. Active is probably the most interesting new development, the all-wheel drive and tougher, more outdoorsy look there for those wanting to advertise their lifestyle credentials.

The biggest, and most welcome, change is inside the Kuga. The interior still looks a bit trad compared with some funkier rivals but the massive 13.2-inch central screen is a big step up from what went before and is powered by Ford’s latest Sync 4 operating system with double the processing power. It also runs 5G-powered cloud navigation for real-time updates, has built-in Alexa voice control and now connects wirelessly to your phone through either CarPlay or Android Auto. Elsewhere it’s business as usual, which means tons of adaptable interior space thanks to the sliding second row of seats and typically Ford no-nonsense practicality. Other enhancements include more sophisticated adaptive cruise control that uses information about upcoming corners, junctions and traffic from the navigation to moderate your speed and a nifty trailer assistance feature where you can input the dimensions of whatever you’re towing so the car can automatically guide you around low bridges or other potentially sticky situations.

As before the entry-level Kuga uses a small 1.5-litre petrol engine driving the front wheels through a manual gearbox and is enough to be getting on with. The more significant models are updated versions of the hybrid, which combines a 2.5-litre petrol engine with various levels of electrification and an automatic transmission. And the option of all-wheel drive for the Active model. The regular hybrid just sorts itself out in terms of balancing the power delivery while the plug-in can do nearly 37 miles – or enough for most daily errands – without firing up the petrol engine. Assuming you’ve got somewhere at home to charge it, obviously. Power has gone up slightly for this model, now standing at a combined 243 horsepower. This makes it usefully faster off the line than the regular hybrid, if such things matter to you.

Ford is going through a period of great change at the moment, shifting away from its traditional core line-up of hatchbacks and into a new age of electric SUVs and crossovers. Central to this is the new Explorer, which combines American looks with foundations shared with VW’s ID range, effectively making it a blood relative of models like the ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq.

The Kuga operates in a very busy section of the market, and rivals are constantly coming and going. Ford will hope this update maintains its top-selling position in Europe but there are strong alternatives like the Kia Sportage, Nissan X-Trail and many others to consider as well.