The Ford Puma Is Coming Back... As A Compact Crossover

The idea of a new Ford Puma is quite exciting, isn’t it? The current Fiesta is a brilliant car, so the prospect of a cute coupe based on the supermini - and perhaps a hotter version using the guts of the incredible Fiesta ST - has the makings of an affordable sports car hero.

But there’s a problem: people don’t buy coupes anymore. The average new car buyer cares more about high-riding stuff, which is why Ford is bringing back the Puma name for, you guessed it, a compact crossover. Sigh.

Ford is actually calling it an “SUV-inspired crossover,” whatever that means, but the result will be the sort of thing you’d expect - a Fiesta-based creation with a reasonable amount of ride height. Think of it as a Fiesta Active with extra sportiness.

Although we’ll have to wait another few months to see the Puma in full, Ford has released a few details about the car. For instance, the boot space: you’ll have 456 litres to fill, which is class-leading.

Then there’s the engine: it’ll be a 1.0-litre Ecoboost inline-three mated to a 48-volt hybrid system, with an output of 153bhp. Perhaps the 1.5-litre Fiesta ST engine might make an appearance at some point.

The Puma will be available to order at the end of 2019. It’ll be built at the Blue Oval’s Craiova Assembly Plant in Romania.