Ford Puma review

The decision to make the Ford Puma the brand's smallest offering and kill off the Fiesta in 2023 was met with a fair amount of confusion, especially considering how popular the firm’s long-running supermini was. It makes a lot more sense once you factor in that the Puma is one of the best-selling cars in the UK, successfully filling the void left by the Fiesta thanks to the Puma's fun-to-drive dynamics, practicality, affordability and generous equipment levels.

Our main gripe with the Puma when it relaunched in 2019 (you might remember the dinky Ford Puma two-door coupe from the 1990s) was the cabin. It lagged behind the competition in terms of quality, and the infotainment system featured a small screen and was a touch laggy. The facelifted Ford Puma has addressed these shortcomings with a fresh dash layout, while tech-savvy buyers will feel the introduction of a larger screen and revised infotainment system that uses Ford’s latest SYNC4 system will elevate the Puma from a good car, to a great one. All this contributes to the Puma remaining among the best in its class.

About the Ford Puma

Some of you may remember that back in 1997, Ford launched a fun, small, front-wheel-drive coupe called the Ford Puma. It was based on what was then the fourth-generation Fiesta, and added some badly needed desirability to the brand’s UK line-up. It was only a hit for a short while (lasting until 2002), because buyers were quickly shifting away from impractical coupe body styles.

The latest Ford Puma is not a small coupe, but a small five-door SUV. It’s based on the seventh-generation Fiesta supermini (that has sadly ceased production), sharing its chassis and its engines. There are no plans to axe the Puma, however, and an electric version is even in the pipeline to help it compete in a very crowded sector of the market.

Chief rivals for the Ford Puma include the Renault Captur, the Peugeot 2008, Skoda Kamiq and SEAT Arona, while the handsome Mazda CX-30 and spacious Volkswagen T-Cross offer further possibilities for customers considering a small family SUV. Left-field alternatives include cars like the design-led Nissan Juke, chunky Jeep Avenger and Jeep Renegade, plus the retro-looking Fiat 500 X. 

The Puma trim structure has been slimmed down compared with the pre-facelift car, now down to four core versions: Titanium, ST-Line, ST-Line X and the performance-focused ST. The latter ST used to come with a manual, but all Puma ST models going forward only come with an automatic gearbox.

Despite being the entry-level model in the Puma range, Titanium trim is priced at around £26,000, which is a touch high compared with rivals, namely the Renault Captur, which starts at around £21,000. However, Titanium comes with all the goodies you’d hope for in a small SUV, including 17-inch alloy wheels, power-folding mirrors, a rear parking camera with sensors, cruise control, selectable drive modes, and a 12-inch central touchscreen.

ST-Line models include a muscular body kit, sports suspension, a leather sports steering wheel and alloy pedals, while ST-Line X cars come with stylish 18-inch wheels, privacy glass, a powered bootlid, a wireless charging pad for your smartphone and a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system. The sportiest ST features 19-inch alloy wheels, a body styling kit, Ford Performance seats, a 360-degree camera, and a more powerful engine.

The Puma is front-wheel-drive only, and buyers are offered three petrol engine options. The EcoBoost 125 employs a 123bhp 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder unit; using 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, it brings a slight increase in torque over the previous non-hybrid model, with marginal reductions in CO2 emissions and gains in fuel economy, too. A second option is another version of the 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol with the same mild-hybrid system, but power is increased to 153bhp. Both versions are offered on Titanium and ST-Line. 

For the performance enthusiast, there’s the Puma ST. The facelift removed the Fiesta ST-derived 197bhp turbocharged 1.5-litre engine and standard six-speed manual gearbox, so the range-topping powertrain is now a 168bhp 1.0-litre version with an automatic 'box. 

A six-speed manual gearbox is standard on Titanium and ST-Line, with an optional seven-speed automatic transmission. The 153bhp version of the 1.0-litre engine only comes with an auto 'box. 

Ford Puma ST-Line: long-term test

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Senior photographer, Pete Gibson, put almost 30,000 miles on a pre-facelift Ford Puma 1.0 mHEV 155 ST-Line back in 2021. Pete really enjoyed his time behind the wheel, often finding the Puma to be more impressive on the road than some of the high-end performance cars he was snapping at various shoots.

He found having a washable box under the boot floor a big help when dealing with his children’s muddy shoes, while there was enough space to store all his camera gear. However, a larger fuel tank would’ve been welcome, and the interior quality could have been better, with a broken parcel shelf occurring on his first outing with the car.