Under the carmaker’s ‘World Car’ programme, the European Kuga crossover and Escape sold in North America have been largely the same car since the current generation launched in 2013.

Unveiled at the Los Angeles motor show, the Escape gets a new front end similar to the Edge SUV – which is launching in Europe during 2016 – as well as smaller rear lights. Until now, the Escape and Kuga have featured a front end similar to the Focus, before that was facelifted last year.

The interior is heavily upgraded, in line with the latest Focus, with a much larger infotainment screen and fewer buttons across the dashboard. New driver assistance features include adaptive cruise control and enhanced parking assist, which can now tackle perpendicular as well as parallel spaces.

Ford of Europe has yet to announce any details about the forthcoming Kuga, but it’s possible that this could be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next March. With the Edge, and updated versions of the EcoSport and Kuga, Ford expects to sell 200,000 SUVs in Europe in 2016 – a 200% increase compared to 2013.