The new Ford B-MAX has gone on sale for September delivery with the 1.4-litre petrol engine Studio model starting at £12,995, Zetec models at £15,600 and the top-of-the-range Titanium specification from £17,595.

The Ford easy access door system aims to deliver new levels of convenience, access and flexibility. It features conventional, hinged front doors and rear sliding doors, combined with a new body design.

This integrates the traditional central pillar structure into the front and rear doors, rather than forming part of the bodyshell itself.

When both front and rear doors are open there is outstanding access to the interior, with a huge, clear aperture more than 1.5m wide.

This is around twice the width offered by competitors with alternative door concepts and makes it significantly easier to enter or exit the rear seats, attend to children in child seats, or load and unload shopping.

The petrol engine line-up is led by the three-cylinder Ford EcoBoost petrol engine, available in 100PS and 120PS versions. Equipped with the Ford start-stop system as standard, the 120PS EcoBoost engine achieves CO2 emissions of 114g/km and fuel consumption of 57.6mpg.

Other petrol engine options include the 90PS 1.4-litre Duratec unit, or the 105PS 1.6-litre Duratec engine which is paired with Ford's PowerShift six-speed automatic transmission with advanced dual clutch technology.

B-MAX is available with a choice of two Duratorq TDCi diesel engines. The 95PS 1.6-litre engine delivers CO2 emissions of 104g/km and fuel consumption of 70.6mpg. The 75PS 1.5-litre diesel, closely derived from the 1.6-litre engine, appears for the first time in Ford's European product range. It achieves CO2 emissions of 109g/km and fuel consumption of 68.9mpg.