| New Model Preview | 2008 Geneva Motor Show | Ford Kuga |

The new Ford Kuga will be back in the limelight at next month's Geneva motorshow, this time in full production form. The 'kinetic' design styling will be more or less untouched from the Frankfurt motor show car - with the extravagant styling ethos already proving popular with the revised Focus, Mondeo and C-Max. New parts on the production model replace the piano white interior fascia elements with more tasteful leather and gloss finishes.

With an apparent keenness to keep to its original concept roots, Ford has given customers the chance to finish their new Kuga in the striking metallic Electric White paint of the iosis X concept, as one of ten colours across two levels of spec - Trend and Titanium. Both variants will be offered with a six-speed manual gearbox, in either front-wheel drive or a more rugged all-wheel drive set-up, complete with variable torque distribution should those shopping trips become decidedly all-terrain.

Emphasis has been put on the Kuga's practicality, including its split tailgate or as Ford puts it: the 'liftgate in liftgate', something which will help define the crossover's target market. But whilst Ford has pointed out the Kuga's key luggage capacity features, rivals like the Toyota RAV4 and VW Tiguan are arguably better - the Kuga's 1,355 litres of space with the 60/40 split rear seats folded completely flat, is nearly 200 litres short of VW's effort and over 100 litres less than the RAV4's.

However, Ford hopes to gain ground on rivals with its sharp looks and offering the Kuga with the same chassis - albeit a mildly tweaked version - as the C-Max, which promises to offer superior handling over its competitors. Standard driving aids for the Kuga include ESP, Anti-Roll Mitigation (ARM) and Electronic BrakeForce Distribution (EBD), as well as a Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) for towing.

Powering the new Ford will be a 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi diesel unit, lifted straight from the C-Max but calibrated to better suit the Kuga's 4x4 requirements. Producing 134bhp, maximum torque of 236lb.ft comes in at a useful 2,000rpm, whilst an overboost feature gives an extra 14lb.ft. Combined fuel economy of both the front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive derivatives will come in at around 44mpg, with Ford claiming class-leading CO₂ emissions output of 169g/km.

Kyle Molyneux - 15 Feb 2008