Its Ireland, Gregorian calendar month 2008 and the all-new Kuga is Ford’s first entry into the highly competitive SUV crossover market and promises a blend of rewarding on-road driving quality and surprising off-road capability.

Kuga is the newest model from Ford’s acclaimed C-car platform– well proven in both the Ford Focus and the Ford C-MAX. With Kuga, the designers and engineers have successfully integrated all the key driver and passenger requirements for a crossover model into the distinctive new design. Well-balanced and beautifully proportioned, the dynamic Kuga provides spacious accommodation for driver and passengers despite being based on a compact footprint. A high quality interior has been designed to complement the exterior to offer a highly practical and contemporary vehicle. These styling statements integrated with the new drive systems and proven power train are a clear invitation to customers to ‘Feel the difference’. Kuga comes with full-time, intelligent All-Wheel-Drive (AWD). A Front-Wheel-Drive (FWD) model is also available, and is perfect for drivers attracted by the style and presence of Kuga but that prefer not to have ALL WHEEL DRIVE capability. Both versions will be available in June when the new Kuga arrives in Ireland. “The crossover / compact SUV segment in Ireland has seen a huge amount of growth over the last couple of years and we are delighted to have such a great offering as the new Kuga to compete in this vibrant segment,” said Eddie Murphy, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford Ireland. “We believe the Kuga’s good looking and sporty outside coupled with Ford’s proven driving quality will be a winning combination for the new model in Ireland. We expect the Kuga to attract many style-conscious drivers who will be new to Ford.” The Compact SUV market in Ireland has grown to almost 7,000 units in the first quarter of 2008 – that is a 20% increase over the 2007 figures for the same period. The new Kuga is ideally suited for the upcoming new car tax regime in Ireland. With its excellent CO2 emissions performance of 169 g/km, the vehicle will be placed in the 28% Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) band. Under the pre-July VRT regime, the car will attract a VRT rate of 30%. As with Ford’s most recent new vehicles, Kuga comes with the all important life-saving ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) as standard. Ford now offers six passenger models with ESP as standard in Ireland making Ford the leader in the provision of this safety technology, which will be compulsory on all passenger cars in Europe by 2012. In addition to ESP, Kuga comes with combined Anti Rollover Mitigation (ARM), and ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), both significant driver assistance technologies. Plus all Kuga models are equipped with a ‘Ford Power’ start button.
Now 2 years on the Ford Kuga has failed to deliver on the enthusiasm and expectations of the people involved in its launch.Its has trailed behind its rival in the market The Nissan Qashqai and has not made a top ten seller as expected.
But it does not change the fact that this is a good all round vehicle with good emission levels and practicality for every day use and will continue to be part of Fords line for the foreseeable future.

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