Ford Kuga (2008-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

Ford's not noted for building four-wheel drives because that was the job of Ford's subsidiary Land Rover. Now that the legendary British firm has been sold to Indian car maker Tata, Ford must make sure that doesn't miss out on one of the few remaining lucrative and growing sectors - the SUV market.

Enter the Kuga. It's not Ford's first small 4x4, but after the mediocre Maverick and horrid Explorer the brand would probably prefer for you to think of it that way.

In any case, following a lengthy 4x4 sabbatical, the blue oval is back with a mudplugger to challenge the very best in the class.

The Kuga is hardly a 'mudplugger' - it's styling cues are more 'car' than '4x4'. Inside, the car-like theme continues: Ford has resisted a temptation to make the interior look tough, rugged and built-for-purpose - i.e to go off road.

There's not a low ratio gear lever in sight, nor even a now-obligatory button to lock a centre differential. Unbelievably, the Ford doesn't even pack a large yellow toggle for the hill descent, mainly because the Kuga, shock horror, doesn't even have hill descent.

Ford has been brave, realising that the 6-7,000 buyers the Kuga is likely to attract each year will miss neither any of the above and actually prefer the low-key looks and enjoy what the brand promises is a 'class-best' drive on the Tarmac.

Then there's the green issue. The Kuga has the lowest-in-class emissions of 169g/km of CO2. Ford is hoping these this and an average fuel consumption of 44mpg will attract buyers wanting sports 4x4 looks to go with superior fuel economy and road-tax-friendly emissions.

But is this enough? Ford has taken a gamble by playing down the Kuga's 4x4 credentials, but is it a risk that will pay dividends for a company that has waved goodbye to its key 4x4 brand?