Radical change
At four years old, the third Ford Kuga is no longer the youngest, but thanks to a major facelift it suddenly looks fresh again. That facelift has not yet been implemented on ‘our’ Kuga, but that is about to change.
Remember how we had to wait a long time here in Europe for the last Ford Mondeo, while in the US it had long been available as a Fusion? Well, it’s not that extreme this time, but the major refresh of the Ford Kuga is still somewhat reminiscent of that scene. A significantly modified Ford Escape (as the Kuga is called there) was spotted in North America a year and a half ago and was then officially unveiled there in October last year. Here in Europe we still have to make do with the pre-facelift version, but that will soon change.
Our spy photographer has captured the facelifted Kuga on our continent. To be fair, this is not the first time, because one with German plates was already spotted at the beginning of 2022. That seems to have retroactively been an Escape, recognizable by the orange elements in the headlights. We no longer see that on this version intended for us, which also neatly displays the model name. Not surprisingly, Ford no longer makes much effort to hide the innovations. Apart from some slightly modified bumper work, we don’t actually see any significant differences with the Escape.
The interior of the new Ford Escape (Kuga)
Ford is also immediately on the road with a Kuga that is decorated as an ST-line. You can see that in the last two photos. You can also count on an eye-catching new feature in the interior. The Ford Escape received a brand new 13.2-inch infotainment screen and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. We don’t expect any major news on the technical front. Here in the Netherlands, the choice will probably again only be the plug-in hybrid with the 2.5-liter four-cylinder as the beating heart.
By the way, it is not really necessary to freshen up the Kuga to boost sales figures here in the Netherlands. This year the counter currently stands at 3,572 Kugas sold, making this the absolute record year for the Kuga. This may partly be due to the deal with the police. The Ford Kuga will become (together with the BMW X1) the new basic police vehicle.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl