Kuga - an investment without fairy tales

Oct 20 2008 Steve Orme

Kuga - an investment without fairy tales

BEFORE the collapse of the bank of Noggin the Nog, few people would have identified Iceland as a centre for financial wizardry.

Why should they? What has ever come out of the land of Magnussons and dottiers to make you think: 'Ooh, that's where my council should be investing our poll tax'? Not Bjork, for a start.

Here are some of the outstanding features of Iceland; Hakarl, a gourmet delicacy of shark buried in the ground until it putrefies, Keiko the killer whale who starred in the Free Willy films and a road building policy which allows for diversions to avoid disturbing rocks where elves are said to live.

Right, I see. My county council thought a country where people eat rotten fish, have a whale for a film star and believe in fairies was a great place to bung a few million away for a rainy day.

This must have been based on Iceland's long and glorious reputation as an off-shore tax haven. Just like the Faroes. Or Canvey Island.

The moral of the story has to be stick to what you are best at. In the case of Iceland, cod. But remember, your fish can go down as well as up.

Ford is best at making cars although it hardly has an extensive pedigree in the area of four-wheel drive.

From memory a Sierra estate in the 80s ran on a 60-40 split and would align itself today with cars like the Subaru Legacy and the Maverick, which was a Nissan.

Of course, we shouldn't forget the Ranger pick-up with something of a reputation among sheep fanciers. Ah, and the discontinued Explorer, which turned out to be as desirable as a Reykjavik post office account.

Now Ford has the Kuga, not to be confused with the Cougar, or any other random arrangement of four letters.

From the start you should be clear that this latest diversion off road for Ford is hardly the stuff of blood stained sagas. When the heavyweight burning and pillaging starts, Kuga will be back on the boat making a nice cup of tea.

There is, for instance, no high and low ratio, no push-of-a-button differential lock and no yellow button for controlling hill descent. Because there is no hill descent control.

However, on the road it offers one of the best rides in its class and with conservative looks will attract the 6,000 or so customers Ford is looking for. There are also impressive green gains with CO2 emissions of just 169g/km keeping the tax bill down and an average consumption of 44mpg.

So what's the point? Well, it is going to be a formidable tow car, the two-litre 134bhp diesel is torquey and smooth from the moment you press the 'power' button. Who would invest in key making these days? An Icelandic hedge fund manager? It is quick enough at 10.7 seconds to 60mph with a top speed of 112mph.

As with the Focus, accomplished suspension delivers a composed ride and although this is quite a tall car there are no nasty shocks in corners or over poor surfaces.

Kuga is a hugely impressive drive but don't expect to find anything other than a car-like interior. There are only two trim levels, Zetec has touches like alloys, split tailgate, iPod connection, Bluetooth and misfueling technology. The £22,900 Titanium adds automatic lights, half leather, cruise and air-con.

In these current eco-looney car hating times a 4x4 that seems almost ashamed it has all wheel drive at all, may prove to be a shrewd investment. Unlike Viking accountancy.

Among the banks that went belly up in the North Atlantic was one sounding very much like Kaput. Shouldn't someone have got the hint?