The clue to why the new ST edition of this chic crossover has been picked for NZ is in its full name, not used here.

DETERMINATION by Ford Europe to deliver their latest hot hatch with a transmission deemed amenable to Kiwi use has resulted in the make’s ST branding return to the local market.

The reason why the new Puma ST arriving now has won Ford New Zealand acceptance is down to the transmission.

Powershift is Blue Oval-speak for an automatic gearbox. The Puma ST hasn’t had one previously, being purely old school manual. The incoming $46,490 edition is the first of the new kind.

It’ not just about the shifter. The engine also alters. The baby crossover spin-off from the Fiesta ST hatch – which was dropped last year – has until now also married a 1.5-litre engine. But that came with the six-speed manual which was determined to be a turn-off here.

The ST - full name ST Powershift (but on in the UK, not here) - delivers a clever 48-volt mild-hybrid version of the regular Puma 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol, with a new seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. 

The mild-hybrid stuff side is also a Green box tick; Ford here only wants to represent its passenger fare here with electric assist drivetrains, because that enables lower CO2 counts that help it meet Clean Car aspiration. 

Electric involvement assuages that issue. Puma’s 48 volt system is secondary to the petrol motor, but nonetheless plays a valuable role. It recharges the modest-sized battery faster, allowing the electric motor to add an extra 8kW on top of the engine output.

Some of that fizz seems to have been left behind, though. In the UK, Ford claims this Puma ST is capable of 126kW and 248Nm of torque. Here, the cited outputs are 118kW and 200Nm.

Still, Ford cites this version of the long-lived, and most loved 1.0-litre engine has twice the per-capacity power of an original Ford Focus ST.

Wether the UK market cited 7.4-second 0-100kmh acceleration time evidences here is not yet clear. The optimal output car is also supposed to deliver 6.3  litres per 100km fuel efficiency and 144 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The three-cylinder engine gets some electronic management tweaks and some active exhaust valve technology lifted from the 1.5-litre Puma ST. 

For moments of fun, there is a Sport mode, and the gearbox can triple-downshift on the approach to corners for maximum responsiveness. That’s when left to its own devices. A driver can use the paddle shifters behind the wheel to control everything, of course. 

The Puma ST gets some of the same chassis and suspension tuning as the 1.5-litre Puma ST, including a rear suspension twist-beam rated at 2000 Nm/deg torsional stiffness - an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the standard Puma. 

It also has fat anti-roll bars and is served up with ‘force vectoring springs’, increasing the suspension's lateral stiffness for better precision. The dampers are Hitachi twin-tube frequency-reactive front and rear. The steering is 25 percent quicker across its locks than that of the standard Puma, and torque vectoring control uses the brakes to help deliver power to the front wheel that can best handle it. 

Finally, there are bigger brakes - 325 mm front discs - 17 per cent larger in diameter than the standard Puma specification - befitting a car wearing the ST badge. 

Puma ST gets a chunky ST bodykit, including a front splitter said to  increases front-end downforce by almost 80 percent versus the standard Puma. A large rear roof spoiler and distinctive rear diffuser also feature, while signature ST upper and lower front grille incorporate. 

There’s also a new ST-exclusive Vasttraffic Blue paint option, while you also get a gloss black finish for the roof and standard black grille surrounds, side spears, door mirror caps and rear roof spoiler, and a Magnetite finish on the standard 19-inch alloy wheels. 

Ford Performance-developed sports seats are finished in premium Sensico synthetic leather-effect material, a wireless charging pad, heated windscreen, front and rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers, FordPass Connect modem, and Ford’s SYNC3 communications and entertainment system, compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

Driver assistance technologies include Pre-Collision Assist with Active Braking, Active Park Assist, Cross Traffic Alert with Active Braking, and Intelligent Speed Limiter. 

The Puma ST retains its practical side, with a 456 litres of boot space, plus the 80-litre ‘Megabox’ that sits under the boot floor, which is waterproof and hose-out.