The Ford Focus, one of Europe's most popular cars, reached another milestone last week when the four millionth example produced in Europe, a Colorado red, 136 PS TDCi Ford Focus 4-door, was driven off the line at Ford's assembly plant in Valencia, Spain on Thursday, 19th January, 2006.

The Focus, which had European sales of approximately 442,000 units in 2005, is also produced at European assembly plants in Saarlouis, Germany and St. Petersburg, Russia. Outside of Europe, the car is produced in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Philippines and South Africa. More than five million Focus cars have been sold worldwide, with banner years in 2000 and 2001, when the Focus achieved the status of being the best-selling car in the world.

The four million European production milestone does not include production of the Focus C-MAX, 370,000 units of which have been built since its launch in 2003 until now.

Production of the Focus began in Valencia and Saarlouis in 1998. In 2002, Ford started production of the Focus at a new facility in St. Petersburg, the only Ford plant in the world that builds the Focus in all four body styles: 3-door, 4-door, 5-door and wagon versions. In 2005, more than 33,000 units were produced in three shifts at St. Petersburg, a production record. To meet the particularly strong demand for the Focus, the St. Petersburg plant increased its annual production capacity to 60,000 vehicles as of this month.

At the Saarlouis plant, one of Ford's most productive facilities in Europe, 6,800 employees last year built a combined production of 422,800 Ford Focus and Focus C-MAX. In June 2005, the plant produced its 10 millionth car and celebrated its 35th anniversary.

The Valencia assembly plant in Spain currently produces not only the Focus, but also the Ford Fiesta, the Ka and the Mazda 2 models. This range makes Valencia the most flexible Ford production plant in Europe.

James Tetreault, Vice President Manufacturing, Ford of Europe, said: "Since the launch of the first generation Focus in 1998, and even more with the second generation in 2004, the design and driving dynamics of the Ford Focus have been a hit with consumers, making the car our most successful vehicle in Europe. The success of our production facilities in meeting this growing customer demand throughout the years is crucial for our business objectives in Europe. It clearly demonstrates that we are making significant progress in delivering a range of exciting and high quality products. We expect to build on this success in 2006."