SUVs are growing immensely in popularity as drivers scramble for cars with a high-riding position. Other reasons for the shift towards larger cars are also safety, practicality and refinement that all families want and need. This has made it a necessity for all car makers from budget, mainstream and premium backgrounds to bring out their own version of a compact, medium and large SUV.

Ford is a manufacturer of exceptional large practical cars with its MPVs more often than not being at the top of the class. Their only SUV gracing Europe currently though is the Kuga, which is a good car, but has never really hit the heights of its potential. Now though, Ford has announced that a large MPV will be coming to European shores in the near future.

At the 2013 Los Angeles Motor Show, Ford admitted that a large SUV based on the Edge concept – which is on sale in the US – will be arriving in Britain by 2015. It is not a complete shift into the unknown for Ford with the Edge being hugely popular in the US where large SUVs are rife due to the wide roads.

The Ford Edge will form a strong SUV stable alongside the popular mid-sized Kuga and a compact EcoSport. The car maker will keep with the sport and sleek appearance of the Kuga in the design aspect of the Edge. However, it will boast improvements in dynamic ability, fuel efficiency and driver assistance technology; which is becoming increasingly part of Ford’s forward-thinking culture.

It’s a smart move by Ford as European drivers demand for large, dynamic and higher specification vehicle soars. Almost twelve per cent of vehicles sold in the region between 2005 and 2012, which speaks volumes. However, Ford forecasters believe this is just the tip of the iceberg predicting that in the next five years this will increase by over twenty per cent.

Ford’s president of The Americas, Joe Hinrichs, believes that the Ford Edge concept car will become a hugely popular “global vehicle” and “appeal to customers around the globe”, telling a Daily Telegraph reporter: “The Ford Edge Concept is the latest example of a utility vehicle that delivers the attributes global customers value most – design; fuel efficiency, driving dynamics, and customer-focused technology to help the driver feel more confident.”

Look out for ford offers at places like Lifestyle Ford when this large SUV does come rampaging onto British shores.