2008 Ford Kuga: First Official Images

Here are the first official pictures of Ford’s new Crossover -slash- compact SUV that will make its first public appearance at next week’s Frankfurt Show (Sep.13). To be precise, Ford will launch the Kuga as a “preview-model” in Frankfurt, which practically means take away the glossy 19-inch rims and a few minor details like the red trim in the interior and you’re looking at the production version that’ll go for sale in Europe early 2008..

Though less dramatic than the Paris Show Iosis-X concept, we’re relieved to see that Ford’s designers didn’t disappoint us with the final product – well, at least by looking at the pictures. Inside, the Kuga’s interior looks like it has been literally lifted off the C-MAX, but we can live with it. Although officials details are scarce (check out Ford’s pre-show media release here), the Kuga is based on the Ford’s C1 platform which underpins cars like the Focus / C-Max, Land Rover Freelander, Mazda3, Volvo S40 and V50. It is expected that the production model will be offered with both front-wheel drive and AWD powertrains. -Continued after the jump

The Kuga’s competitors in Europe will include the Toyota RAV4, the VW Tiguan and the Nissan Qashqai

Pics via: km77