2017 Ford Kuga facelift due in Australia early next year

The new-look Kuga was unveiled in February this year for an official premiere a month later at the Geneva motor show, before a lower-impact equipment update was rolled out to the Australian market in May.

Now, as part of its big basket of SUV news announced this week - which included confirmation of a five-seat Everest and a long-anticipated local launch for the Edge SUV - Ford has now revealed that the facelifted Kuga will hit Australia "early in 2017".

Although far from a specific window, that news marks a step forward from the figurative shoulder-shrug that accompanied the facelift's February unveiling.

Ford Australia will be hoping for big things from the new-look Kuga. The current model has seen a 6.7 per-cent increase in sales year-to-date (YTD), up from 2585 at the end of July last year to 2757 in 2016, but that figure represents just 3.5 market share in the segment.

By comparison, the ever-popular Mazda CX-5 holds 18.2 per cent of the segment with 14,526 sales YTD - although that's down slightly from 14,712 and 20.6 per cent for the same period last year.

The 2017 Kuga's new look and features - along with a needed boost in marketing spend - could see Ford's mid-sized SUV pick up a heavier slice of the market next year.

Watch for more details to come in the year ahead.

MORE: Kuga news, reviews, pricing and specs