FORD Australia’s full-frontal product push of the last week or so has been an immense exercise. Plastered all over its Broadmeadows HQ this week were huge marquees, new-car demos, clusters of earnest men and women in suits – and lots and lots of shiny new metal.

Squaring up to a future that soon won’t include a large sedan or a locally made SUV, Ford Oz is casting a long and critical eye at its roster, vowing to preview 20 new models in the next six years.

Part of that self-examination process has included the troubled compact Kuga SUV. Choosing to debut the end-of-life TE model in Australia mere months before its successor was released overseas hasn’t given the handsome little SUV the kick-start that local management would have wanted – a year after the debut of the TF, the Kuga still languishes in eighth place in total category sales in 2014 (to the end of November VFACTS) in an increasingly tough segment.

Using terms like ‘listened to customer feedback’ in press releases heralding the MY15 updates also sends a clear signal – the model mix wasn’t quite right.

Ford, though, has coming out swinging, taking the spanners to the powertrains and the red pen to pricing in an effort to turn the tide.

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