The brakes on my 2 month old Puma ST X auto remain on for approximately 2-3 seconds after I have selected reverse gear, this makes reversing smoothly out of a parking bay, for example, challenging.  The car itself has been back to the dealership twice now to be checked over and the only feedback I’m given is “they all do it”.  If it is a driver aid of some kind I’ll accept but it would be useful to know what value it serves.  Thoughts / answers please.

Well Bob I can assure you my ST LineX Auto doesn't do it. If it was to do with the brake pedal/system you would expect it to do it when you select Drive as well.

As it is two months old yours will be the facelift version where mine is pre-facelift. Can't see why that would make a difference.

I would insist the garage proves "they all do it" by giving you a test drive in an exact model as yours.

It is very annoying, but it’s the hillstart assist putting the brakes on which you can’t switch off with an automatic transmission. What I do is stop and put handbrake on and wait until brakes release and then reverse as normal. It’s the same at junctions, roundabouts etc if you’re on a incline, it takes 2 to 3 seconds for brakes to release when you take your foot off the brake pedal so you’re fighting the brakes when trying to set off quickly. So when I stop at a junction I need to set off quickly from I always put my handbrake on and take my foot off the brake pedal. This is definitely a problem which could be solved with a software update if ford get around to it, it definitely doesn’t do the gearbox or brakes any good 😏

This seems crazy, for 2011 (Powershift auto) there are options in the Setup that allow Off, Manual or Automatic for the HLA system with 3 pages in the handbook.
Pardon my French but what idiot would remove those options?