Ford Puma Review & Prices

The Puma is Ford’s smallest SUV, and it’s really more of a hatchback on stilts as opposed to a shrunken-down 4x4. It’s fun to drive, well-equipped and has a large boot for a car of this size, but the interior feels cheap and the back seats are quite tight.

Line up all of the small SUVs on sale at the moment and the Puma really does stand out. If the Volkswagen T-Cross, Toyota Yaris Cross, Skoda Kamiq, and Peugeot 2008 were all part of a pop group, the Ford Puma would be Sporty Spice in car form.

That’s not just to do with the way it drives, either. The tall, pointy headlights, pert grille, swollen wheel arches and sleek roofline all give the Puma more flair than its alternatives. Even in basic Titanium trim it’s a handsome car, but ST-Line models and above get an extra-aggressive body kit and sportier wheel designs.

Unfortunately, the interior is nowhere near as eye-catching. On paper, the 12.8-inch instrument display and 12.0-inch infotainment screen are welcome inclusions, but in reality the Puma’s dashboard is a mess. The layout of the displays and air vents is haphazard, and there are far too many scratchy plastics in easy-to-reach areas.

Cabin space is more impressive. There’s plenty of room for you and your front passenger to get comfortable up front, with adequate storage space - though water bottles in the cupholder get in the way of the handbrake. The back seats, however, are a bit cramped for adults, though children will be fine.

The boot, at the expense of the back seats, clearly, is capacious. At 456 litres it’s the biggest boot of any small SUV, with not one but two levels of under-floor storage. The sub-basement, if you will, is coined the ‘Megabox’ by Ford, and it’s hose-friendly and features a drain plug. Whether as an ice box or for storing muddy boots, it’s a very welcome addition.

You can choose from two 1.0-litre engines for your Puma, with 125hp and 155hp versions available. There aren’t any self-charging or plug-in hybrids, which is surprising given how many hybrid alternatives there are, but both of the petrols feature mild hybrid assistance. If you’re keen on emissions-free driving there’s always the electric Puma Gen-E to consider, as well as the spicy Puma ST, which is basically a hot hatch masquerading around as a SUV.

Light steering, a high seating position and a tight turning circle mean the Puma feels right at home in town. Beware the suspension, which is rather firm and jostles you about on rough roads, while the automatic gearbox feels slow and dim-witted. Stick to the manual, even for city driving.

The Puma is fine on the motorway, but no more than that. It’s less comfortable and noisier than the Toyota Yaris Cross or Renault Captur due to its sporty suspension - but it comes into its own on a twisty road as a result. Little body lean, darty steering and peppy engines make it a good laugh on a great road.

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Starting at around £26,500, the Ford Puma is priced competitively against the posher, but less sporty, Peugeot 2008 and the more frugal but less interesting Toyota Yaris Cross, both around £27,000.

In entry-level Titanium trim, the Puma features 17-inch alloy wheels, LED lights, rear privacy glass, reversing camera and rear parking sensors. ST-Line cars get a sportier body kit and wheels, plus sports suspension, while ST-Line X adds 18-inch alloys, a Bang & Olufsen sound system, powered boot lid and wireless phone charging.

The Sound Edition is based on the ST-Line X, but with two-tone paint, model-specific wheels, keyless entry-and-go, plus an even more powerful sound system, again by Bang & Olufsen.

The Ford Puma is easy to drive around town, but it isn’t very comfortable - it’s best enjoyed on a twisty road

We tested a 155hp Puma with a seven-speed automatic gearbox in November 2024. We used it as our own car for a week, covering our regular commute into London taking in motorways, town driving and rural roads around Cambridgeshire.

In town

The Puma fares well around town thanks to its light steering and tight turning circle. Manual versions have a satisfying, though slightly notchy, gear change and light clutch pedal. We prefer it compared to the slow, clunky automatic gearbox, as it’s not too much of a chore to use - even in stop-start traffic.

Urban U-turns are a doddle thanks to the Puma’s tight 10.4-metre turning circle, which is on par with the Peugeot 2008. Add to that the sharp, yet easy to judge brakes, and the Puma is a breeze to chuck around tight, packed city streets.

A rear-view camera comes as standard, which is good as the rear visibility is only OK - a common issue for small SUVs such as this with a fairly small rear window. It doesn’t help that you don’t really sit up all that high, especially when compared to the seating positions of alternatives; like you’re sitting in a conventional hatchback.

You certainly feel urban bumps more than you would in a Renault Captur or Lexus LBX - a downside of the Puma’s sporty feel - and the problem is worse again for ST-Line models because they get even stiffer suspension than the base model car.

On the motorway

The Puma’s not the quietest car at speed, but then you hardly expect Mercedes S-Class refinement in a car like this. It’s absolutely fine on the motorway, with little to complain about, but nothing to brag about either. 

The modest 1.0-litre turbo three-cylinder engine might not sound like much, but the 155hp version picks up strongly at motorway speeds when you need to get a move on, and even the 125hp version feels a little more muscular than you might expect, thanks to the extra little bit of assistance that the mild hybrid system adds. Brilliant on the motorway? No, but entirely acceptable.

On a twisty road

Twisty roads are where the Puma really comes to life. It’s really good fun on a B-road, with responsive, darty steering and those responsive brakes giving you the confidence to carry speed into tight corners.

The only problem is, again, the jiggly suspension. Although it does smooth out a bit at speed, on a road with lots of bumps you’re going to get seriously jostled and bounced around the place.

The properly sporty ST version, with its 170hp engine, is even more thrilling on the right road, but it’s also even more firm over bumps and it has really hard, tight-fitting seats.

The Ford Puma’s huge, clever boot makes up for the cramped back seats and overly figure-hugging front seats

The Puma is okay in the front for practicality. You get a good-sized glove box and door bins that can fit a bottle of water (though not much else besides). There’s a little extra storage under the front armrest and a wireless phone charging pad in the centre console, but it lacks places to sling wallets and keys. Quite a lot of space is wasted by the manual handbrake and big, old-fashioned automatic gearshifter.

Getting comfortable isn’t always easy, either. It’s fine if you’re slim, but larger frames will find the sporty seats on upper models are quite restrictive. And while there’s reasonable levels of adjustment, it’s harder than it should be to find the proper position in which to set the absolutely massive, squared-off steering wheel.

Space in the back seats

The Puma is not a very roomy car in the back. It’s okay if you’re only trying to carry two people, but Ford may as well not bother fitting a middle rear seatbelt, as there’s definitely not enough room for three adults in the back.

Three kids might just fit, but you’re going to struggle when it comes to bulky child car safety seats. Getting the seats in isn’t too bad, as the doors are a good size and open wide, but if you have a big rear-facing seat we found you needed to push the front seats forward to install it properly. There are ISOFIX anchors on both outer rear seats.

Headroom isn’t great, and if you get a model with the optional panoramic glass roof, then it’s even worse again. A Skoda Kamiq has the Puma well beaten for rear seat space.

Boot space

The Puma’s boot makes up a bit for the back seats. At 456 litres, it has one single, solitary litre extra compared to a Volkswagen T-Cross (and you have to have the T-Cross’ back seat pushed right forward to get that much capacity), though if you want more space for your money consider the Jaecoo 5.

It’s a big, square load area and although there is a slight loading lip, it’s not too bad. You get some helpful tie-down points, luggage hooks, and a 12-volt socket too. The light, flexible luggage cover is easy to use too, and stores under the floor when you don’t need it.

The rear seats split-fold in 60:40 ratio, and while the floor isn’t completely flat up to the front seats, you do get 1,216 litres of space. Annoyingly, though, the rear seatbelts get easily trapped when you’re putting the seats back up.

The Puma’s party trick is the ‘Megabox’. A silly name for a useful 80-litre storage box that sits under the boot floor (and which means you don’t get a spare wheel), the Megabox is designed for either hiding away valuables, or for carrying tall items like… a lamp? A potted plant? An upright set of golf clubs?

It also has a drain plug, so if you’ve filled your Megabox with something grubby and smelly — sports gear or mud-encrusted wellies maybe — you can just pull the plug and hose it all out. Which means you could also leave the plug in, fill the Megabox with warm water, and use it as a portable foot spa. What other SUV can offer that, eh?

The blocky looks of the Ford Puma’s interior might be to your taste, but the cheap plastics on the dash and doors definitely won’t be

The Puma’s 2024 update brought with it a totally new dashboard, but unfortunately, while technology levels took an uptick, design, ease-of-use and material quality all took a dive in the process.

The dashboard centres around a huge 12.0-inch touchscreen which almost seems too big for the space it has to occupy. It has to be huge though, as it contains almost all of the Puma’s controls - a few shortcut keys underneath it are all you get outside of the steering wheel buttons.

This means that even your climate controls are operated through the touchscreen. The screen itself is big, clear and quite responsive, but it’s still a pain trying to hit some of the smaller on-screen buttons when you’re on the move. Luckily Ford’s infotainment software doesn’t have too many of these, certainly not as many as you get in an MG ZS.

You also get a standard 12.8-inch digital gauge cluster. The design around this is particularly uninspired, though, almost as if it was an afterthought. All the information you need is there, it’s just not as attractively displayed as you get with a Volkswagen T-Cross’ digital gauges.

Further spoiling matters is the steering wheel. It feels like the same one from the Ford Transit Custom (minus the clever tilting tabletop feature) and as a result it seems far too big for the little Puma. Its squared-off shape is a bit bizarre, too.

Poor material quality is another bugbear. While items like the steering wheel and gear shifter are soft and premium to the touch, the dash plastics themselves are a combination of fingerprint-susceptible piano black and hard plastic with an unpleasant veined texture.

Compared with the solid build of a Yaris Cross or the plush finish of a Peugeot 2008, it’s rather jarring. At least the Puma’s seats are comfortable (providing you fit in them) and, on higher-spec models, swathed in pleasant faux-suede upholstery.

The Puma is sometimes referred to as a hybrid, but it’s not really. It’s not like a Toyota hybrid that allows the car to drive on just electric power for small bursts. It’s a ‘mild hybrid’, which means it gets a tiny rechargeable battery that allows the stop-start system to shut the engine off earlier in around-town traffic, and keep it off for longer.

It doesn’t actually add up to an economy figure that’s all that brilliant, though. The 125hp version of the 1.0-litre ‘EcoBoost’ three-cylinder engine quotes a best-effort of 52.3mpg on the combined fuel economy test, but you might struggle to reach that in real-world conditions.

The 155hp is thirstier still — an official 50.4mpg, but we only got 42mpg out of it during our testing. A Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid has a more sophisticated hybrid system and it can do better than 60mpg in real-world conditions.

At least the mild hybrid system does keep emissions under some control — the basic 125hp engine has emissions of 122g/km, so you’ll pay £440 for your first year’s road fund licence. The all-electric Puma Gen-E is the way to go if you want to cut your running costs, though.

Euro NCAP rating (2022): 4/5

Adult occupant: 75%
Child occupant: 84%
Vulnerable road users: 70%
Safety assist: 69%

The Puma’s score of four stars in Euro NCAP crash testing is a little lacklustre, especially when you realise the test was in 2022 so the goalposts have moved since then. It’s not unsafe, of course, but there are plenty of options with better safety credentials, like the five-star Mini Aceman, Jaecoo 7 or Lexus LBX.

Basic Pumas come with rear parking sensors, forward collision warning with automatic braking that can detect pedestrians and cyclists, cruise control with a speed limiter that can rear road signs and automatically adjust, lane-keeping steering, and automatic headlights with an automated high-beam system that dips the lights for you at night. Oh, and rain-sensing wipers too.

All Pumas also get Ford’s useful ‘QuickClear’ heated windscreen which is a real boon on a frosty day. Higher spec models get radar-guidance for the cruise control, which will keep you a safe distance from the car in front, along with a blind-spot warning that will stop you from pulling out into the path of another car. There’s also an evasive steering feature that can help you steer around danger, swerving you away from a potential collision.

*the basic three-year warranty is extended by a year with each approved service

Ford came a lowly 23rd out of 31 manufacturers entered into the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, which isn’t a confidence-inspiring result for your new purchase. Not that it’s stopping the Puma from selling like hotcakes, though.

The 48-volt mild hybrid system is pretty new, so it’s unclear how well that will last in the long term, and some of the cabin trim could be nicer, so it remains to be seen how well that will all hold together. There haven’t been any horror stories to do with the Puma so far, that being said.

You only get a three year, 60,000 mile warranty with the Puma. That’s on par with most of its European alternatives, but lags behind Toyota and Lexus with their phenomenal ten-year, 100,000-mile warranties - so long as you keep up main dealer servicing.

Tom Wiltshire’s verdict

As a keen driver, I really enjoy the Ford Puma - but the truth is that I preferred it before the 2024 update, as the latest model now suffers from an awkward and really cheap-feeling interior. It’s still great to drive, but I think the more sensible VW T-Cross or Toyota Yaris Cross are much better all-round buys.

• Sporty small SUV: one of the few compact SUVs that’s genuinely fun on a twisty road, with sharp steering and eager handling
• Huge, clever boot: 456-litre boot is one of the biggest in the class and the hose-out Megabox underfloor storage is brilliant, but rear seats are cramped for adults
• Firm, fidgety ride: light controls make it easy in town and it’s fine on the motorway, yet the stiff suspension means you feel bumps and speed humps far more than in most rivals
• Punchy but not that frugal: 1.0-litre mild-hybrid engines (125hp or 155hp) feel stronger than the numbers suggest, but real-world economy trails more sophisticated full hybrids like the Toyota Yaris Cross
• Techy but cheap-feeling cabin: big digital dials and a 12.0-inch touchscreen bring the tech, but touchscreen climate controls, an oversized steering wheel and hard, low-rent plastics let the interior down
• Mid-pack value and ownership: ST-Line X is the sweet spot under £30k, but a four-star Euro NCAP score, average three-year warranty and Ford’s middling reliability make some rivals a safer long-term bet

Model tested: Ford Puma ST-Line X 1.0-litre 155hp, November 2024.