Ford’s electric Puma has taken a win on its rally debut. Stephanie and Guillaume Maris entered a Puma Gen-E in a brand-new category for electric cars at the Rallye du Chablais in Switzerland, and came away as class winners. Ford shared the result through its own From the Road channel, which promises a fuller account of how the weekend unfolded.
The Ford Puma Gen-E, the battery-electric version of Ford’s compact crossover, has scored a class win on what the company describes as its rally debut. The car was entered in the Rallye du Chablais in Switzerland by Stephanie and Guillaume Maris, who took victory in a category created specifically for electric cars.
A category built for electric cars
According to Ford, the electric class at the Rallye du Chablais was all-new for this edition of the event. That makes the Puma Gen-E’s win the first result of its kind at the rally rather than a category placing among established competition, and it puts a showroom-based electric crossover on a stage normally associated with combustion-engined machinery.
The Swiss event is run over mountain roads in the Chablais region, and separate classes for electric entries are still a rarity in national-level rallying. Organisers across Europe have been experimenting with how to integrate EVs into traditional rally formats, from dedicated categories to regularity-style regulations, and each new class gives manufacturers a low-risk way to put road-going electric models in front of a motorsport audience.
What Ford has said so far
The announcement is brief. Ford has confirmed the crew, the car, the event and the result, and says a longer story covering how the win happened is available through its From the Road platform. No technical details of the car’s preparation, no stage times and no information about the size of the electric field were included in the material issued.
What it means
For Ford, the value is straightforward visibility for the Puma Gen-E at a moment when small electric crossovers are among the most contested segments in Europe. Competition results from a recognisable road car carry a different weight than a bespoke racing programme, particularly for buyers weighing an EV against a conventional alternative.
Ford has not said whether the Puma Gen-E will contest further rounds or whether the Rallye du Chablais outing was a one-off.
Source: www.fromtheroad.ford.com