FORD is setting out to shake up Britain's booming SUV market by pricing its new Edge 4x4 from less than £30,000.

The new model is due in the spring and will see the Blue Oval brand going head-to-head with the likes of Land Rover, Audi and BMW.

Five versions of the Edge will be available and all will be powered by Ford's 2.0-litre diesel engine which the company says offers an official fuel return of 48.7mpg with emissions of 149g/km.

The range will kick off with a 180ps Zetec model costing from £29,995.

Prices will top out at £36,745 for a high specification Edge Sport which is fitted with a bi-turbo engine boosted to 210ps and comes with a six-speed PowerShift automatic gearbox.

Although the Edge shares much of its underpinnings with the current Mondeo and S-MAX, it is built in Canada and like the Mustang is entering the European market as part of Ford's ‘One World' strategy.

The Edge is significantly bigger than Ford's Kuga SUV and will compete against the likes of the Land Rover Discovery Sport, the BMW X3 and the Audi Q5 - all of which cost more.

With bold styling including a prominent three bar grille design the Edge is 15ft 6ins long and 7ft 2ins wide mirror to mirror making it ten inches longer and six inches wider than the Kuga.

Ford is claiming class leading interior space and the dashboard layout of the Edge shares much with the latest S-MAX and Galaxy including a central touchscreen which controls the digital audio equipment and Ford's SYNC 2 connectivity system.

Sat nav is standard on all but the entry level Zetec version of the Edge and all models will be fitted with a pedestrian detection system, lane departure warning and an active noise cancellation device which reduces sound levels inside.

Mid-range Titanium versions, which are priced from £32,245 for 180ps manual models, include a handsfree powered tailgate and parking sensors while the Edge Sport has adaptive steering and sports suspension as standard.

Like the Kuga, the Edge has an automatic all-wheel-drive set up which delivers extra traction only when needed allowing the vehicle to be driven by the front wheels in everyday conditions.

The Edge will be the third Ford SUV on sale in Britain with the line up starting off with the compact EcoSport which costs from £14,795 while the Kuga is priced from £20,795.