The Ford Kuga – which is essentially just a rebadged Ford Escape for Europe – has long been a hot seller in that market, and in fact, closed out 2023 as that region’s 26th best-selling vehicle with 123,268 units sold. However, the plug-in hybrid version of the Kuga fared even better, ranking as the best-selling PHEV in Europe last year, and by a fairly large margin, to boot. When we compare sales figures for the regular Ford Kuga PHEV and the non-electrified variants supplied by JATO Dynamics, it paints an even more interesting picture, too.
Of the 123,268 Ford Kuga models sold in Europe last year, 44 percent went to the PHEV model – 54,018. Given the fact that the 1.5L EcoBoost comes as the standard powertrain in that model and a regular hybrid is available as an option, this also means that the PHEV was likely the best-selling of that trio as well – underscoring the popularity of plug-ins across Europe, which has long favored that type of powertrain combination, even as it aims to transition to pure EVs in the coming years.
Though the Ford Kuga posted a small three percent sales decrease in 2023 versus 2022, it did so as a bit of a lame duck. In fact, a refreshed version of the crossover was just revealed last month, which follows the Escape’s revisions in 2023 and should help keep that particular product fresh moving forward.
The refreshed Ford Kuga features the same exterior styling updates as the 2023 Escape, and is available in three trim levels – Titanium, ST-Line, and the brand new Active. Inside the cabin, it also gets the new, larger 13.2-inch infotainment screen running Sync 4, along with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Interestingly, the revised PHEV models and its 2.5L gas/electric combination generate an output of 240 horsepower – 30 more than the Escape PHEV – as well as 43 miles of electric-only driving range on the WLTP cycle.
We’ll have more on the Kuga soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Kuga news and continuous Ford news coverage.
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