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 some 20 years later, it’s morphed into a small SUV. It still looks sportier than most of its rivals, though, and is more fun in other ways as well, 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 much more expensive cars, allowing it to combine nippy acceleration with remarkably thrifty fuel economy.

Very soon, there will even be 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. 

But how does the regular Ford Puma stack up against its key rivals in other important areas, such as practicality, safety, comfort and value for money? We’ll tell you everything you need to know over the next few pages. 

And no matter what car you end up deciding to buy, head over to our New Car Buying service to find out how much you could save on the brochure price of any make or model, including the Ford Puma, without any haggling.