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"  FRANKFURT \u2014 Ford previewed the first of a new generation of small crossover vehicles here yesteday, the Kuga\u2014the first crossover designed and developed in-house by Ford of Europe. Sure, the name sounds like a British person pronouncing &amp;quot;Cougar,&amp;quot; but the company says Kuga&amp;#039;s design was inspired by two previous concepts, the Iosis and the Iosis X, and shows Ford&amp;#039;s new European &amp;quot;kinetic&amp;quot; design trend. The Kuga is based on European Focus underpinnings, using both front-drive and all-wheel-drive, powered by a 2.0-liter 136 hp Duratorq TDCi diesel engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Kuga will be available with an intelligent four-wheel-drive system that contributes positively to normal road use and helps give the vehicle an almost sporty dynamic ability. But the fact that the Kuga will also be available with that front-wheel-drive-only model emphasizes the vehicle&amp;#039;s crossover routes. The vehicle&amp;#039;s powertrain will feature Ford&amp;#039;s established and highly fuel efficient 2.0-liter, 136 PS Duratorq TDCi common-rail diesel engine. &amp;quot;Kuga offers a rare blend of a wagon and SUV features together with coupe-like sporting qualities,&amp;quot; said Stephen Odell, Ford of Europe&amp;#039;s VP for Marketing, Sales and Service. Technical materials, fine leathers and orange piping highlight the Kuga&amp;#039;s ebony interior with the piano-white finish from Iosis X. And that&amp;#039;s not the only detail Kuga grabs from the Iosis X\u2014the paint finish in the same &amp;#039;Ice White&amp;#039; body color, and it uses the same 19-in. alloy wheels. The production Ford Kuga will have a slightly higher version of the Iosis X&amp;#039;s coupe-like roof, plus a split tailgate to allow full-load width.  The rear-end design has high mounted tail lamps, faceted rear glass and sculptured rear bumper. The rear bumper integrates the tailpipes into the contours of the diffuser.  A Blaupunkt navigation system incorporates a whopping 7-in. color display to show images from a rearview camera, which is incorporated into the tailgate to aid reversing maneuvers. That&amp;#039;ll find its way into the production version of the Kuga, which should go on sale throughout Europe during the first half of 2008. \u2014Jim McCraw "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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