Ford has added a sporty ST Line kit to the Kuga as well as a new, efficient turbodiesel model in an effort to jump-start the Kuga's sales on local soil. See details below…

The new Kuga is not having the best of times on the sales charts, but that's to be somewhat expected after the disaster that befell the previous generation. Despite enticing pricing, a strong engine lineup and a practical offering, the new Kuga lags behind the competitors like the VW Tiguan, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson and Toyota Rav4 – to name but a few. Ford is looking to improves saleswith some new additions to the Kuga range. Here's what the new models have to offer.

Sporty Kuga ST Line

The Kuga ST Line replaces the old Titanium model and offers a sportier offering thanks tohigh-gloss Ebony Black finish for the front grille,honeycomb design for the lower portion of the grille and matching sports mesh finish on the fog lamp bezels. Theskid plate, side skirts, mirrors, door handles, rear roof spoiler and wheel arches are all colour coded and make up the new body kit for the ST Line. Ford has even includedanEbony Black rear diffuser, black roof rails, tinted front and rear lights and privacy glass for the rear windows.

The interior of the ST line features partial leather seats with coloured stitching that extends to the gear lever, centre console and gear lever. The ST Line logo appears on the scuff plates as you open the door.

The trend towards sporty family SUVs continues with a revisited suspension setup that incorporatesthicker anti-roll bars, a 10 mm lower ride height and stiffer suspension bushes. Spring and damper rates have also been fine-tuned to improve handling performance.

The Kuga ST Line is offered in either all-wheel drive diesel or petrol guise. Thedieselvariant is powered by a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine with 132 kW and 400 Nm and is mated to a 6-speed Powershift automatic transmission. As for the petrolversion, a 2.0-litre Ecoboost engine does service under the bonnet and provides 177 kW and 340 Nm of torque and comes mated with a 6-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

Frugal 1.5 turbodiesel

A new economy-oriented turbodiesel engine has been added to the Kuga lineup too. Power for this unit is rated at 88 kW combined with 270 Nm of torque. This engine is only available in entry-level Ambiente and mid-specTrend variants. It is also only available with a manual 6-speed gearbox and front-wheel-drive. In terms of fuel economy, Ford claims an average figure 4.2 L/100km.

Ford Kuga – Price in SA

1.5 EcoBoost Ambiente FWD 6MT – R384 900

1.5 EcoBoost Ambiente FWD 6AT – R398 500

1.5 TDCi Ambiente FWD 6MT – R426 200

1.5 EcoBoost Trend FWD 6AT – R445 900

1.5 TDCi Trend FWD 6MT – R456 200

2.0 EcoBoost ST-Line AWD 6AT– R548 500

2.0 TDCi ST-Line AWD 6AT – R566 900

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