The Ford Kuga could be getting an ST and a premium Vignale variant in the near future. Known in some parts of the world as the Ford Escape, plans to introduce the said variants are said to complement Ford’s growing list of SUVs, Auto Express reports. Currently, the more premium Vignale trim has been applied solely to the Ford Mondeo, the Ford S-MAX is said to be the next in line to receive it.
Roelant de Waard, vice-president of sales, marketing and service for Ford Europe said, “we believe SUVs are going to be a major segment, and expect it to grow to around 27% of the marketplace.” In response to whether its SUVs will get the Vignale treatment, “in general the answer is yes,” he said, save for the Ford S-MAX, Waard declined to specify the other models which were to receive the added luxury.
In Europe, the top-range Kuga reportedly has a 70% take-up rate which strongly indicates that an Kuga in Vignale spec, might be feasible. “Because it gets so big, there will be more proliferation in body styles and executions,” he said. In addition to that he noted, “Vignale is an answer to sectors where we have very high take-up rates of (high-spec) Titanium and Titanium X, to give even more to these customers.”
Interestingly, the Kuga could also come in a high-performance ST variant as well. “With the maturing of the SUV segment increasingly we will see all derivatives come to that (performance) segment, and yes some (automakers) are experimenting with that (performance SUVs),” Waard said noting that in the US, Ford’s current range of SUVs in sports variants were a success.
C520 Ford Kuga, 1.6 litre EcoBoost pre-facelift
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