Ford will debut the new Kuga SUV as well as the production version of last year’s Fiesta ST Concept at next week’s Geneva Motor Show.
“Wait,” you say, “was that ‘brand-new’ Kuga?” Yes, the Kuga that only recently launched in South Africa is unlikely to be with us for very long. We suspect the new Kuga will arrive in early 2013, but Ford SA say they can’t confirm an arrival time at this point, only that, “we will be launching it here in the future.” While we wait for the new Kuga to arrive, we shouldn’t feel too hard-done-by, as the current generation Kuga is a very good car in its own right and a worthy competitor in the mid-size SUV sement.
In its all-new 2013 guise, the new Kuga will bring the latest evolution of the company’s Kinetic styling language (the old model was one of the first to wear it), along with Ford’s new 2.0- and 1.6-litre EcoBoost engines.
Joining the new Kuga at Geneva will be the production version of the new Fiesta ST, at last giving the Fiesta range a rival for Volkswagen’s Polo GTI. As with its concept forebear, the Fiesta ST will mark the debut of the facelifted Fiesta range, picking up revised headlights and a new Focus-inspired front bumper and grille design.
In concept form, the Fiesta ST is powered by Ford’s turbocharged 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, delivering 135 kW and 240 Nm of torque, matched to a six-speed manual transmission. Ford promises a 0 – 100 km/h time below seven seconds – either matching or bettering the 132 kW Polo GTI’s 6.9 second time.
The carmaker has yet to confirm a local debut for the Fiesta ST, but it would be mad to leave this one out of the South African range – certifiably so, in fact.