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Frankfurt Preview: Ford Kuga crosses over to production

Alex Nunez — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:38:00 EST

Filed under: Frankfurt Motor Show, Europe, Crossover, Ford

Click image for hi-res gallery

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]

Gallery: 2008 Ford Kuga

Gallery: Ford Iosis X Concept

Continue reading Frankfurt Preview: Ford Kuga crosses over to production

Frankfurt Preview: Ford Kuga crosses over to production originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Iosis X-based Ford Kuga to hit Europe in '08

Alex Nunez — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: Frankfurt Motor Show, Europe, Crossover, Ford

Click image to enlarge

Sometimes, you have to wonder if Ford really favors Europeans over Americans. After all, look at the product portfolios. Sure, we have the Mustang and the trucks, which are great, but Europe wins pretty much everywhere else. The Mondeo tops the Fusion, their Focus is worlds better than the bizarre-looking thing we're about to get, and now they've announced that Europe's receiving a small crossover that's likely to make Escape look ponderous by comparison. Obviously derived from the Iosis X concept, that car is the Ford Kuga, and while the name's not the greatest (sounds like a Bostonian saying "Cougar"), the sketch above shows a very sporty-looking ride that applies the Ford of Europe "kinetic design" philosophy to a 4x4 crossover. Assuming it's similarly-sized, Kuga is to Escape what Mondeo is to Fusion. That means the Europeans win and we lose. Again.

The car will debut in September at the Frankfurt show and go on sale throughout Europe in 2008. Follow the jump for Ford's press release. We've also included a gallery of the 2006 Iosis X concept below.

Gallery: Ford Iosis X Concept

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Iosis X-based Ford Kuga to hit Europe in '08

Iosis X-based Ford Kuga to hit Europe in '08 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: 2009 Ford isosis-X

Frank Filipponio — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:02:00 EST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Crossover, Ford

Some cloaked shots of the production version of Ford's newest cute ute have surfaced. First shown as the iosis-X concept in Paris, this C-segment crossover features that same "kinetic design language" we see in Ford of Europe's S-MAX and C-MAX, in a size that slots between the two. This small crossover would compete head-to-head with the Toyota RAV-4 and Honda CR-V, among others.

Just when we thought the CUV/SUV market couldn't get any more crowded, this would be the eleventieth UV in the Ford lineup alone. But it's a looker, this one. Using spy photos of a heavily disguised prototype, the artist created a rendering that looks athletic and stylish but functional, sort of like a scaled down Mazda CX-7, which is a good thing. Our previous spy shots of this productionized iosis-X looked markedly different, but it's likely the older pics were of a test mule. As this vehicle gets closer to it's early 2008 launch and Frankfurt debut, the shape seems to be taking its final, more stylish form.

[Source: drive.com.au]

Spy Shots: 2009 Ford isosis-X originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spy Shots: Ford Iosis crossover

Damon Lavrinc — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:04:00 EST

Filed under: Frankfurt Motor Show, Spy Photos, Europe, Paris Motor Show, Crossover, Ford

Last month at the Paris Auto Show, Ford unveiled the Iosis X crossover concept that drew significant influence from the Iosis model that debuted in Frankfurt last year. Ford is expected to release a new crossover into the European market and judging by these latest spy shots, development and testing of some form of the 'X' is well underway.

What will likely be dubbed the 'Cross Max' should hit dealers in late 2007 or early 2008, and will fill the niche between the C-Max people carrier and Ford's sedan offerings. The timing of the Cross Max's arrival will put it head-to-head with Volkswagen's Tiguan CUV, as the battle for crossovers will begin to heat up overseas.

Autocar has got the goods and expects a production variant to debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show next November.

[Source: Autocar]

Spy Shots: Ford Iosis crossover originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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