Both the Ford Kuga and the automaker’s business have been in a constant flux as of late, as the popular crossover recently dropped its diesel powertrain offerings and Ford of Europe will soon cease to operate as a standalone region as FoMoCo prepares to go fully electric in that region with a lineup that will include seven new EVs by 2024. In the meantime, the Ford Kuga PHEV has been a huge success in Europe, finishing as the region’s best-selling plug-in hybrid in 2021 and more recently, the second-best selling PHEV in February, according to new data from automotive market research firm JATO.
The Ford Kuga PHEV recorded 2,898 sales in February, an increase of 46 percent year-over-year, which was good enough to rank it behind only the Peugeot 3008 and its sales of 3,611 units, which was 41 percent higher than last year. The Kuga beat out every single one of its other competitors, including the Volvo XC40, Hyundai Tucson, and Toyota RAV4, to name just a few.
Meanwhile, overall new vehicle sales in Europe were down 5.4 percent at 794,576 units, which was the lowest recorded February volume in four decades. At the same time, both EVs and PHEVs continue to gain favor among European shoppers. BEV sales increased by 77 percent to 87,400 units last month, while PHEVs gained 6 percent to finish with sales of 67,400 units.
The future of plug-in hybrids in Europe remains in flux, however, as environmental groups are pushing for stricter emissions laws that would effectively phase them out entirely, as Ford Authority reported last month. Additionally, the European Union is currently planning to change the way it measures carbon dioxide emissions from plug-in hybrid vehicles starting in 2025, incorporating data from fuel consumption meters to give a more realistic view of how hybrid vehicles utilize internal combustion engines.
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Will the Kuga eventually replace the Focus in the USA