It's no stretch to say that Ford of Europe is on a roll. With the sharp new Focus Coupé-Cabriolet, the Fiesta we showed you yesterday, and now this very handsome Kuga crossover sport-utility vehicle, the house that Henry built — at least its European arm — looks more vital and with-it than ever. Like the droptop Focus and the little Fiesta, the five-passenger Kuga draws from Ford's sophisticated new "kinetic" design language. It uses a variation of the (Euro-market) Focus architecture, so it should have very fine on-road manners. A 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine produces 134 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque (or 250 pound-feet in a short-duration "overboost" mode). Matched to the six-speed manual transmission, the engine will return 38 mpg with standard front-wheel drive, or 37 mpg with the optional all-wheel drive system. Ford hasn't mentioned plans to bring the Kuga to North America, and I won't be holding my breath. But don't be surprised to see its design and features influence the next generation of a certain compact SUV from Kansas City.
More photos after the break, courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.* *
