Ford Moves Kuga Production from Europe to the US

Ford is considering transferring production of the small Kuga crossover from the European plant to a new facility in the United States, in an attempt mean to cut costs and help the company benefit from the weaker dollar in its domestic market. Bloomberg News writes that Ford will move production from Germany to Louisville, a factory that already assembles pickup trucks. The move will be made onOctober 11, the source wrote citing sources familiar with the matter.

Approximately 80,000 units of the US-made Kuga will be exported to Europe.

Ford Kuga officially entered mass-production in mid-2008, with Ford's Saarlouis, Germany, production plant the only facility to build the new model. Although it is especially designed for the European market, there were a couple of rumors indicating that Ford is considering bringing the compact crossover into the United States, but no report has been ever confirmed.

However, Kuga has always been regarded as a potential competitor for Citroen C-Crosser and Vauxhall/Opel Antara, being available at similar prices, about 20,500 pounds in UK, and providing almost the same engine performance and fuel consumption (rated at 44.1 mpg).

Ford Kuga is offered with a 2.0-liter TDCi engine that develops 136 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and 236 lb-ft of torque at 2,000 rpm. The engine helps the car sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.6 seconds and achieve a maximum speed of 113 mph (182 km/h). It has a fuel consumption rating of 29.4 mpg (8 L/100Km) city and 44.3 mpg (5.3 L/100Km) highway.