What Car? 2020 Car of the Year: Ford Puma

By: James Ruppert
What Car? Awards 2020 Puma

The Puma isn’t what it used to be. That was a perky, impractical coupe. Here’s the proof that it has grown up into something rather wonderful, in fact it is now the perfect family SUV.

 

Sports Utility Vehicles get a bad rap, but that’s because they can be badly packaged and rather dull. The Puma is none of those things. Take a look at it, the grille could be smiling at you and those headlights lights do look like eyes. This isn’t some breezeblock SUV it has really character and curves.

 

The good news continues inside, as despite its compact dimensions there is plenty of room inside for four adults and an impressively large boot, the biggest in the class apparently. Oh, and there’s a MegaBox lower load compartment, giving owners an extra 80 litres of useful space. It will even take your wet wellies and there’s a plug to let out any moisture.

 

There is a very straightforward engine line up, just the single 1.0 litre unit available in two levels of output, 125 and 155bhp. It is a mild hybrid and that means the Puma incorporates a small electric motor with a 48-volt battery to help improve efficiency. It won’t run solely on electric power, but it will help and make the C02 emissions much lower and fuel efficiency higher. That combines with the Auto Start-Stop system so the Puma will never needlessly idle in traffic.

 

In case you do get in a jam and on every journey there is all state of the art infotainment that you would ever need. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard so that your favourite apps are instantly accessible.

 

So is it any wonder that the Ford Puma is What Car? Car of the Year?

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