Ford (Sort Of) Unveils Yet Another SUV

The Ford Puma SUV was fleetingly teased in Amsterdam earlier this week - and will go on sale in Europe by the end of the year to go toe-to-toe with the Renault Captur and the Opel Mokka - better known in Australia as a relative of the Holden Trax.

According to Ford, the Puma will be for customers that want a less utilitarian SUV, and will be built at its Romanian assembly alongside the Ford EcoSport.

The Puma will slot between the EcoSport and the Kuga (also known as the Escape) in Ford’s lineup.

Ford said the Puma was designed to be sporty and was “an SUV-inspired compact crossover that fuses stunning exterior design; best-in-class luggage capacity and flexibility; and 48-volt mild-hybrid powertrain technology.”

“Ford EcoBoost Hybrid technology will optimise Puma fuel-efficiency and deliver powerful, responsive performance, with up to 155 PS. A belt-driven integrated starter/generator (BISG) enables recovery and storage of energy usually lost during braking and coasting to charge a 48‑volt lithium-ion air-cooled battery pack,” said the company.

With the Puma added to the lineup, Ford will have an SUV portfolio of seven in Europe - the Fiesta Active, the Focus Active (which are both chunkier versions of the smaller cars, a la Subaru XV), the EcoSport, the Kuga and the Explorer, which Australia will miss out on.

The Puma however, will be arriving on Australian shores, as Ford of Europe said it would be exporting models to the land down under, though no timetable beyond a European release was given.