In the United Kingdom, emphasising the car's premium market aspirations, only high end Zetec and Titanium specifications are offered.

[5] This idea was later scrapped, after they determined the car could not be sold both competitively priced and at a profit in the United States, due to the current dollar-to-euro exchange rate.

[15] The patents from January 2011 list the designers as Patrick Verhee, Stefan Lamm, Kemal Curic, and Andrea Di Buduo from Ford in Germany.

Petrol Diesel Ford Europe debuted the facelifted model at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2016.

[21][22][23][24] In December 2016, Ford South Africa requested that all local Kuga owners take their vehicles in for a safety inspection.

[31] On 16 January 2017, Ford South Africa and South Africa's National Consumer Commission[32] held a media briefing to announce a safety recall of the affected Kuga model, affecting "4556 1.6 L EcoBoost models that were built between December 2012 and February 2014".

[19][33] In December 2019, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) fined the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) R35 million in connection with the numerous fires, in addition to compensation payments already offered to affected parties.

[35] The third-generation Ford Kuga made its debut on April 2, 2019; it went on sale in the third quarter of 2019 as a 2020 model for markets in North America (as the fourth-generation Escape for the region).

The third-generation Kuga is the company's first SUV to use the C2 platform, also found in the latest Focus, making it longer, wider and with a more generous wheelbase.

The facelifted Kuga was introduced in January 2024, a year after its North American market counterpart, the Escape, received the design refresh.

Only models sold in Continental Europe and the British Isles are shown, overseas territories often have different offerings.