Ford shows first glimpse of new Puma SUV, will be produced at Craiova plant

Ford today revealed the first image of the Ford Puma. The new SUV will go on sale at the end of the year, and will be produced at Ford’s Craiova Assembly Plant, Romania, following nearly 1.5 billion Euro investment since 2008.

The first image of the Ford Puma reveals significant styling cues including distinctive wing-top mounted headlamps and athletic lines, alongside compact crossover proportions that support raised ride-height and luggage capacity of 456-litres.

Ford EcoBoost Hybrid technology will optimise Puma fuel-efficiency and deliver up to 155PS. A belt-driven integrated starter/generator (BISG) enables recovery and storage of energy usually lost during braking and coasting to charge a 48‑volt lithium-ion air-cooled battery pack.

The BISG also acts as a motor, seamlessly integrating with a low-friction, three-cylinder 1.0‑litre EcoBoost petrol engine and using the stored energy to provide torque substitution – which reduces the amount of work required from the petrol engine to maximise fuel savings, and torque supplementation – which increases the total torque available from the powertrain for optimised performance.

Puma joins Ford’s expanding line-up of SUV and SUV-inspired crossover models in Europe, including the Fiesta Active, Focus Active, EcoSport, Kuga, Edge, and the all-new Explorer Plug-In Hybrid – unveiled for the first time at Ford’s “Go Further” event.

SUVs now account for more than one in five Ford vehicles sold in Europe, and sales rose more than 19 percent in 2018.