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The Kuga was presented in concept form at Frankfurt although Stefan Lamm, Chief Designer Exterior at Ford, told us: "It is basically a production car". Only the pearlescent paint and some interior trim materials will differ on the production design, he said.
Essentially, the Kuga is an SUV crossover that will compete with cars such as the Nissan Qashqai, the Volkswagen Tiguan (also debuting at the show), the more SUV-orientated Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV and Opel Antara.
The design is significant for two reasons: It is Ford's first European SUV and it is the first Ford developed from start to finish under Martin Smith and Stefan, both fresh from having put to bed the Antara whilst working at Opel...
With the theme of the car previewed by the Iosis X concept car (shown this time last year at the Paris Motor Show) and most of its 'kinetic design' signature elements already seen in the Mondeo, S-Max and now facelifted C-Max and Focus, the Kuga immediately fits comfortably in the Ford Europe range. But the exterior design by Murat Gűhler (working under Stefan), does introduce a subtle hip to the rear fender and slightly chunkier details such as the fake air intake incorporated into the lamp graphic. Other interesting design features include a rear tailgate that opens in two ways to leave a large or small aperture; bold alloy wheel designs and 'Iosis' orange stitching in a mostly C-Max interior.
This latest iteration of 'kinetic design' is arguably the best resolved, perhaps in part because the sporting SUV crossover concept fits so well with the Design Strategy.
Related Stories:
Ford Iosis X concept - Paris Motor Show 2006
Design Review: Ford Iosis concept 
New Cars: Ford Iosis X concept
New Cars: Ford Kuga
New Cars: Opel Antara
The Tiguan is conceptually very close to the Ford Kuga that also made its debut at this year's Frankfurt show: a compact SUV crossover based on a European lower medium tall hatchback, in this case the Golf Plus and not the Ford C-Max. The core difference with the Tiguan is that it is set for sale in the North American market unlike the Ford, and, perhaps related to this, it is a far more conservative design that has a slightly more "family car" identity.
The new car was previewed nearly a year ago at the LA Auto Show by a design that differed only in detail execution, so much of the comments for that car stand also for this.
With the Seat Tribu SUV crossover concept - and to a lesser extent the Skoda Yeti and Audi Cross Coupe shown within the last year - of similar size, it's likely that the Tiguan is just the first of several compact SUV crossovers to emerge from the Volkswagen Group. And with "Cross" versions of the Polo, Golf Plus and Touran shown adjacent to the Tiguan, even if Volkswagen are late to the SUV party, they are now covering a lot of the bases.
Related Stories:
Volkswagen Concept Tiguan - LA Auto Show 2006
Design Review: Skoda Yeti
Audi Cross Coupe concept - Shanghai Motor Show 2007
New Cars: Volkswagen Tiguan
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