Ford Vertrek – 2012 Ford Kuga – at Detroit

The Ford Vertrek Concept - the 2012 Kuga & 2012 Escape to be

The picture you see above – minus a few concept fripperies like the huge glass roof – will be the next generation Ford Kuga in Europe. It will also be the next generation Ford Escape in North America. Which means it’s a combination of Ford’s European Kinetic design plus some extra lard to cater for the US.

The Ford Vertrek Concept is another of Ford’s takes on the 2011 Focus platform and is powered by Ford’s 1.6 litre EcoBoost, although any production model will get the usual range of engines from frugal diesel to powerful EcoBoost. Even though the Vertrek grows in size from the Kuga you can expect it to be lighter, less emitting and more frugal.

Expect to see a production-ready version of the Vertrek – the 2012 Ford Kuga – at Frankfurt in September before it goes in to production early in 2012.

Interestingly, rumour has it there will be a mini Vertrek concept at Frankfurt based on the Fiesta platform. All the better to have a stab at the Nissan Juke and the Hyundai Curb.

By Cars UK