New Ford Kuga Titanium X Sport model added to Zetec, Titanium and Titanium X launch line-up

New Ford Kuga Titanium X Sport model added to Zetec, Titanium and Titanium X launch line-up Titanium X Sport standard equipment includes body styling kit, 19in alloy wheels, silver roof rails and rear view camera High demand for top-end Ford Kugas led to Titanium X Sport introduction

BRENTWOOD, Essex--March 8, 2014: Ford’s stylish and eye-catching Titanium X Sport series has joined the new Kuga range to offer the highest specified Ford SUV available, with the following styling, luxury and technology features as standard:

19in 5x2-spoke alloy wheels Body styling kit including body colour front, side and rear skirts, spoiler, wheel arches and door claddings. Kit also adds lower centre silver skid plate and rear diffuser Sony DAB audio with satellite navigation Rear view camera Active Park Assist for semi-automated parallel parking Silver roof rails Privacy glass Power fold mirrors

The new all-wheel-drive Kuga Titanium X Sport, priced at £28,345, inherits an impressive list of other standard equipment such as opening panorama roof, heated front Torino leather seats and 10-way powered driver’s seat.

The introduction of a Kuga Titanium X Sport, with 1.6 EcoBoost petrol (150/182PS) or 2.0 TDCi diesel (140/163PS) engines, was prompted by high demand for the Titanium series, which accounted for 80 per cent of sales.

New Kuga, which arrived in dealerships a year ago, has sent sales soaring by over 40 per cent since March 2013 compared with the 12 months prior.

Among its styling, safety and convenience options is Ford Kuga’s hands-free tailgate (Kuga on YouTube) – the first to be offered on a medium-sized SUV in Europe.

The £350 option on Kuga Titanium X Sport and Titanium X, which includes keyless opening, enables customers to open the boot without using their hands, but by a gentle kicking motion under the rear bumper.

The innovation was chosen by more than one in five of all Ford Kuga buyers in Britain last year and has already been added to over 56 per cent of early Titanium X Sport orders in the UK.

“Everyone has approached their car with their hands full and wished there was some magical way of opening the boot without having to put the load down first,” said Mark Ovenden, chairman and managing director, Ford of Britain. “Our hands-free tailgate is an ingenious solution to make everyday lives easier, and one tailored for our new top-end Ford Kuga customers as the majority have chosen it.”

The system employs two sensors in the rear bumper that register the driver’s leg and respond to the kicking motion. This ensures a hands-free tailgate cannot be accidentally activated, for example by an animal running under the car.

The Ford Kuga range also features Active Park Assist, Active City Stop, and All-Wheel Drive that pre-emptively reassesses conditions 20 times faster than it takes to blink an eye, readjusting the power split to give the driver the best blend of handling and traction.

The new Kuga spearheads Ford’s extending Smart Utility Vehicle range that also includes the small EcoSport SUV, on sale now, and will later include the upscale Edge – a larger SUV that is already a success in North America and other markets.