Ford expands crossover lineup
Ford New Zealand will expand its SUV/crossover lineup when the new Puma goes on sale in the second half of 2020. Revealed in Europe in June last year and built at the Ford Romania plant at Craiova, the Puma is an all-new urban compact SUV that shares its Ford B-car architecture with the seventh generation Fiesta hatchback.
Arriving alongside the newgeneration 2020 Ford Escape, together the Puma and Escape will bring Kiwi customers greater choice through Ford’s expanding SUV lineup, which also includes the highly-equipped Ford Endura and the off-road capable sevenseat Ford Everest.
“The Puma will appeal to customers looking for a vehicle with inspiring personality,” said Simon Rutherford, managing director, Ford New Zealand. “It’s fun-to-drive, stylish and loaded with smart technology.” The distinctive design of the Puma features a low, sloping roofline for a dramatic and instantly recognisable silhouette. It bucks the trend for wedge-style crossover side profiles with what Ford describes as an “antiwedge” design that features a flatter belt-line to deliver balanced proportions. Ford’s design team created a distinctively proportioned stance for the vehicle, and alongside the engineering team, delivered uncompromising style, access and class-leading load space of 456 litres.
New Zealand specification and pricing for the all-new Ford Puma remains under wraps to be announced ahead of its arrival later this year.
In Europe the Puma range includes EcoBoost petrol and EcoBlue diesel powered versions and Ford’s familiar Trend, ST-Line and Titanium grades of specification.
Puma was initially launched with a six-speed manual transmission but a seven-speed dual clutch automatic has followed and is expected to be the mainstay for the New Zealand market.
The Europe model lineup is headlined by a mild-hybrid powertrain that combines the three-cylinder 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine with a 48-volt electrical system and 11.5 kW belt-driven integrated starter/generator (BISG).
Replacing the standard alternator, the BISG enables recovery and storage of energy usually lost during braking and coasting to charge a 48-volt lithium-ion aircooled battery pack.
The Puma MHEV is available with both 92kW and 114kW versions of the 1.0-litre turbo engine and can provide an additional 50Nm of electric torque assistance.
The BISG also enables the Puma EcoBoost Hybrid’s Auto StartStop technology to operate in a wider range of scenarios for even greater fuel savings. It is able to restart the engine in approximately 300 milliseconds and Ford estimates the system achieves fuel savings in the region of 9.0 per cent.
Among the safety technologies available in the Puma range for Europe are Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Speed Sign Recognition and Lane Centring along with a new Local Hazard Information system which can inform the driver of hazardous situations in the road ahead before they become visible to the driver or vehicle sensors. Further enhancing Ford’s LaneKeeping System, Road Edge Detection functionality can recognise where a paved road transitions to an impassable surface, such as a soft verge, gravel hard shoulder, or grass.
The system can apply a torque to the steering wheel to prevent the vehicle from drifting off the carriageway.
The Ford Puma measures up with an overall length of 4207mm — about 170mm shorter than a Toyota CH-R but 10mm wider and about 30mm lower.
Other established rivals include the Mazda CX-3, Holden Trax, Nissan Juke and the new Hyundai Venue.