please help....I am losing/ lost  confidence in my dealership....just need someone to tell me if I have an aut release on my handbrake or is my car faulty !!!

The electric handbrake does release automatically but only if the door is closed and you're pressing the throttle pedal.

 

Your vehicle automatically releases the parking brake if all of the following conditions exist:

• The driver door is closed.
• The accelerator pedal is pressed.
• There are no faults detected in the parking brake system.

35 minutes ago, kimby woman said:

... or is my car faulty.

Or (as was the case with my Focus) has the option been disabled? I don't have a Kuga, so I can't advise you on how to check, but it may be very similar to the way it works on my Focus, if you'd like me to try and guide you.

 

Edit to add: In fact, it's very easy to get at, with my Focus, and maybe these three pictures will be worth 10,000 words, as the saying goes...

Ensure that the "Hill start assist" has the 'tick', thus active.

If it's anything like the Focus, you need to have your seatbelt on too.

44 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The electric handbrake does release automatically but only if the door is closed and you're pressing the throttle pedal.

 

Your vehicle automatically releases the parking brake if all of the following conditions exist:

• The driver door is closed.
• The accelerator pedal is pressed.
• There are no faults detected in the parking brake system.

And as @alexp999 says, seatbelt MUST be on

And auto activation should work if auto hold activated and seatbelt still on when you turn off engine

@Rob101 Mk3 Focus doesn't have an electric handbrake.

Mk4 Focus and larger models do.

It's a button that triggers electric motors on the calipers.  Hill start assist is just a driver aid, not the actual handbrake.

 

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

Hill start assist is just a driver aid, not the actual handbrake.

Ah, right; thank you: my bad.

[Just in my nature, try and help other, is all]

8 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

seatbelt MUST be on

Not on my Focus Mk4.

I drive it almost every day about three quarters of a mile at around 20 MPH on the private farm track going to and from my daughters. Saves having fasten and unfasten the belt as I get in and out to open and close the farm gates.