It looks like Ford will be moving the production of its Kuga small (-ish) SUV to a plant in Kentucky. Yes, this will be good news for those needing jobs in Kentucky (which would seem to be a lot of people), but it also has some interesting ramifications in a larger sense.
For starters, a lot of you might be asking, “What’s a Kuga?” Good question. The Kuga is an SUV primarily sold in the European market. So how can making a car in Kentucky, which is sold in Europe, make sense? And also, if they’re going to build it here, will they sell it here?
Thanks to the U.S. dollars drop against the Euro, falling 18 percent against the continental currency this year, Ford has decided to move production of the Kuga compact SUV from its factory in Saarlouis, Germany to Louisville, Kentucky in the U.S. starting from October 2011. An 18 percent shift sure makes it seem economically viable, if you ask me.
If the story does pan out, and so far there’s been no official word from Ford, this story comes via Bloomberg News, it looks like Ford will be producing as many as 80,000 examples of the Kuga a year that will be exported to Europe.
But the real meat to the story here is that if the Kuga is being produced in Louisville, Kentucky is could also likely mean that the compact SUV would finally make its way to North American dealerships.
Over in Europe, the Kuga goes head to head against VW’s Tiguan in the small SUV market. In Europe the Kuga is offered with a 200HP 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five gasoline engine, and a 2.0-liter turbo diesel putting out 136 horsepower. Both plants come with both automatic and manual gearbox options.
Those engines might not make it into the American version of the Kuga though. Ford has a new powertrain coming on line for the near future. This would be the already announced new family of 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol units, that would be ideal for a North American version of the Kuga.
Source: CarScoop
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