Ford Puma review

If you’re thinking the Ford Puma name sounds rather familiar, well, there’s a good reason for that. It was originally a small coupé back in the late 90s, and it was a jolly good one, too – it even picked up a What Car? Car of the Year award.

The trouble was that it didn’t sell very well, which is probably why, on its return to Ford’s line-up after a couple of decades or so in the wilderness, it’s morphed into a small SUV. It still looks sportier than most of its rivals, though, and is also more fun in other ways, as we’ll come on to explain.

In terms of size and price, its closest rivals are the big-selling Nissan Juke, Skoda Kamiq and Volkswagen T-Roc. However, unlike those cars, the Puma has the kind of mild hybrid engine technology that you’d usually expect to find in a much more expensive car, allowing it to combine nippy acceleration with remarkably thrifty fuel economy.

If you want serious performance there's a hot version called the Puma ST, which borrows its engine from the brilliant Fiesta ST hot hatch and has bespoke suspension to help it fly around corners. You can read all about that in our dedicated Puma ST review.

Here we're focusing on the regular Ford Puma. How does it stack up against its key rivals in the important areas, including practicality, safety, comfort and value for money? And which engines and trim levels make the most sense? We’ll tell you everything you need to know over the next few pages. 

And for the best Ford Puma deals, head over to our New Car Buying service to find out how much you could save on the brochure price without any haggling.