Ford Kuga 2012 ??????

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THE burgeoning compact SUV sector is preparing to welcoming another player.

Ford in the US this week says it will reveal a near production concept to replace its Escape and - in other markets - the Kuga small SUV wagons. Ford Australia is saying little about a replacement for the Ford Escape, only acknowledging that it's an important segment.

The new Escape/Kuga will be shown at the Detroit motor show next month. It is based on the Ford Focus platform and despite its showing at Detroit, is still along way off. Production is expected to start in the second half of 2012.

Australia is on the cards for the new SUV. The baby wagon falls under the "One Ford" strategy that creates single vehicles for all world markets. An example of the philosophy is the Ranger ute that will be built in three global factories from mid-2011 and serve 180 markets.

The next-generation Escape/Kuga (the global name is yet to be decided) is one of 10 models Ford will build on its new global C-platform. The first was the European C-Max people mover.

Ford is on record as saying it plans to make two million units a year off the platform. The cost-saving - from design right down to production and spare-parts inventories - is evident by Ford's acknowledgement that the various C-platform models will share 80 per cent of parts, regardless of where the vehicle is built.

The platform will serve vehicles including the Focus sedan, wagon and hatch; C-Max people movers with five and seven seats; Escape/Kuga SUV; Transit Connect light commercial vehicle; and a proposed coupe dubbed the Capri. Outside of Australia, Ford makes two important SUVs - the Escape/Kuga and the Explorer.

The latest 2011 Explorer - which has the option of a 2-litre turbo-petrol engine that will be available on next year's Ford Falcon sedan - looks good on paper but a Ford Australia insider says it couldn't compete with the locally-built Territory.