Ford Europe is adopting a diesel-only, upscale specification strategy for its new Kuga when the compact SUV-crossover arrives in showrooms here next May.
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With an entry price tag expected to be just above EUR28,500 (GBP20,000) the all-wheel-drive Kuga will have a restricted volume out of the C1 platform Saarlouis ‘flexi plant’ in Germany.
Ford’s UK brand manager for medium sized cars, Damian Oton, predicted between 6,000 and 8,000 annual British sales for the Kuga, which he claimed would be: “virtually a brand in its own right.”
He added: “We are aiming for volumes which will not dilute Kuga’s aspirational character. We will not schlock it out in big numbers like old Ford might have done. This is new Ford.”
Oton said the single powertrain, using a two-litre, 136PS, TDCi diesel (one of many motors developed and made in a JV with PSA) and six-speed manual transmission, was: “a conscious strategic decision with one body style, one engine, a single transmission and just two specification levels.”
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By GlobalDataUK customers will only be able to choose from the Zetec (Trend in Continental Europe) and top of the range Titanium trim/equipment packages, an approach likely to be shared across Europe.
Ford marketing analysts believe they can repeat the success of the S-Max MPV/minivan, which generated high dealer profit retention figures courtesy of 50%-plus of buyers opting for the top-line Titanium version.
Equally Ford’s game plan is to secure a conquest rate of more than half for Kuga buyers, and Oton claimed: “People will come from a variety of different brands and car types including the premium sector.”
He acknowledged that, by the end of next year, or early in 2009, a high-performance 2.5-litre, five-cylinder (Volvo derived) petrol engine version would also be on offer.
Ford strategists do not anticipate a high rate of cannibalisation from within the ‘blue oval’ range although Oton conceded: “there will be some traditional Ford customers moving from current more conventional products and I suspect there will be waiting lists.”
Part of Ford’s game plan is to compensate for losses in the upper medium D-segment (Mondeo) sedan/hatchback/wagon sector in recent years as customers migrate to MPV/minivans, SUVs and crossovers.
Conceding that the Kuga and VW’s (diesel and petrol) Tiguan, on sale in the UK from February, will “draw a lot of comparisons” Oton said Ford’s decision to be closer to its Iosis X concept car’s styling “is likely to pay dividends.”
Ford’s Thai-sourced Ranger pick-up already has a diesel only range, a growing tendency that includes the Peugeot 4007/Citroen C-Crosser/Mitsubishi Outlander trio, Nissan’s Pathfinder, Jeep’s Cherokee and Commander plus Chrysler’s Grand Voyager.
Hugh Hunston
The new Ford Kuga may draw criticism for being manual transmission-only but the same applies to the PSA Mitsubishi crossover trio and the diesel versions of Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV-4 small SUVS, adds just-auto deputy editor Graeme Roberts.
The automakers argue the cost of developing the auto versions and complying with strict EC emissions laws, while keeping CO2 output as low is possible, is too high when considered against likely sales volume (most European and UK buyers still prefer to shift their own gears).
Nonetheless, Nissan offers its new Qashqai crossover (which replaced both C- and D-segment models in the automaker’s range) with a two-litre diesel/auto option and Korean rivals Hyundai and Kia also sell their small SUVs – Tucson and Sportage – in Europe with diesel automatic powertrains.
Ford Europe’s last small SUV offering was the US-made Maverick (Escape) sold briefly here several years ago, and also offered by affiliate Mazda as the Tribute. The models never met their even modest targets due to having the wrong engines for Europe – gas-guzzling auto-only three-litre V6, manual-only two-litre petrol – and no diesel at all.
