2016 Ford Kuga facelift on sale now costing from £20,845

The 2016 Ford Kuga SUV is now on sale in the UK, priced from £20,845.

The facelifted model made its debut at the Geneva motor show in March and comes with a new 1.5-litre diesel engine engine, as well as Ford's latest infotainment system, Sync 3.

Design

Visually, the updated Kuga has a more heavily sculpted bonnet, which as well as giving the car a more chisled look is claimed to give better pedestrian protection in the event of an accident. It also gets Ford's trapezoidal grille, as featured on the new seven-seat Ford Edge large SUV.

Exterior styling cues have been taken from the Edge andthe updated Ford Ecosport small SUV, with new self-adjusting bi-xenon headlights, LED daytime running lights and new foglights, while at the rear there are restyled tail-lights and a power-operated tow bar that stores itself out of sight when not in use. The tailgate can also be opened by you doing a kicking motion below the car's rear bumper.

New ranges of 17, 18 and 19in alloy wheels are also available while inside there are fewer buttons, a new electronic parking brake and an improved design.

Engines and gearboxes

For 2016, the Kuga gets a new 120bhp 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine with front-wheel drive, which gets fuel economy of 64.2mpg while emitting 115g/km of CO2. A 2.0-litre TDCi diesel unit with 150bhp is also available, with either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. This unit returns 60.1mpg and emits 122g/km of CO2. A 180bhp Intelligent All Wheel Drive version, capable of 54.3mpg and with 135g/km of CO2 emissions is also available.

The 1.5-litre Ecoboost petrol unit also remains, with either 120bhp or 150bhp. The four-wheel-drive 182bhp variant of this petrol engine returns 38.2mpg and 171g/km of CO2.

Technology

The new Sync 3 system comes with an 8.0in touchscreen and includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality. It allows drivers to control functions using conversational voice commands. For example, by saying ‘I need a coffee’ or ‘I need petrol', the sat-nav system will locate a nearby shop or service station.