2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Ford Kuga crosses over to production
As you can see here, the Ford Kuga crossover that will go on sale in Europe and the UK in 2008 is very close in appearance to the Iosis X concept car on which it’s based. If you compare the two using the galleries below, you’ll see that the Kuga’s roofline is a smidge less aggressive, which makes for happy backseat passengers. The production car will even be available with the same 19″ rollers featured on the concept.
As you can plainly see, the Kuga is an attractive blend of Ford Europe’s “Kinetic Design” language and some other styling elements that we’ve seen become prevalent in a number of crossovers. We’re talking mostly about that upswept D-pillar, which can be seen on everything from the Nissan Murano to the to the Toyota RAV4. The front end styling meshes beautifully with that of the Mondeo it’ll be sharing showroom space with in the future. And the rear, while not terribly unique, is nicely done as well.
The interior is better than anything you’ll find in the US-market Escape, and yes, that shifter you see is connected to a 6-speed manual gearbox. A 134-horsepower (136 PS) turbodiesel lives under the bonnet, and both FWD and 4WD variants will be available. Like just about every other Ford of Europe product, we’d like to see the Kuga cross over to our side of the Atlantic. Compared to this, the Ford Escape is just lame.
Cover Our Own Ass Disclaimer: Though the Kuga Crossover was embargoed by Ford until 7:01PM EST, or 12:01AM GMT, the vehicle was first spotted on km77.com, then Motor Authority.
[Source: Ford, AutoBlog]
Looking forward for the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show:
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Fiat Grande Punto Abarth SS
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Alfa Romeo 147 C’N’C CoSTUME NATIONAL
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Fiat Panda Aria Concept
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Alfa Romeo allows individual pimpage
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Estate hauls ass…and your stuff!
+ Citroen C-Cactus Concept will debut in 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: 2008 Lexus GS tweaked to perfection
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Hyundai diving right in with i-Blue Concept
+ Mercedes-Benz lets loose the new C-Class Estate
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show Preview: Audi S8 facelift
+ In Flux: Peugeot Flux concept coming to 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show
+ 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show preview: Novitec Rosso kicks the Ferrari 599 GTB up a notch
+ Audi bringing two new models to Frankfurt, possibly RS6
+Focus goes under the knife for 2007 Frankfurt reveal
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