One millionth Ford Focus stars at British show

Sales of Britain's top-selling car have broken seven figures, with supermarket and bio-ethanol retailer Morrisons the new owner of car number 1,000,000 – on display at the British International Motor Show.

The supermarket giant has chosen a small fleet of Ford Focus Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) for its management. Ford Focus FFVs run on bio-ethanol or petrol and Morrisons became the country's first national retailer to put the renewable fuel on sale in March this year.

The Ford Focus has been Britain's best-selling car for its entire lifetime. Introduced in late 1998, Focus reached 100,000 sales within 12 months. In 2002 the iconic 215PS, World Rally Car-inspired Focus RS rolled off the line and British customers snapped up almost half of the 4,500 produced for Europe.

In 2003 the Focus C-MAX Multi-Activity Vehicle arrived, followed by the all-new Focus in 2004. Last year the fastest-ever production Focus went on sale – the 220PS Focus ST – as well as the greenest – the Ford Focus FFV.

Roelant de Waard, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: "Ford and Morrisons are companies with a track record of being leaders – us with the first bio-fuel car on sale in the UK and Morrisons with the fuel supply. I'm delighted to present the 1,000,000th Focus sold in Britain – a Flexi Fuel Vehicle – to Morrisons, who we know well as an existing Ford fleet customer."

Phil Maud, Morrisons Fuel Director, said: "Morrisons is proud to be the country's first retailer of bio-ethanol E85, reinforcing our position as the UK's largest forecourt retailer of alternative fuels. We are delighted to own the 1,000,000th Ford Focus – the first FFV to be used as a company vehicle by Morrisons staff."

Focus facts

1,000,000 Ford Focus models sold, from its debut at the 1998 British International Motor Show to this year's show
Favourite body style is five-door hatch, accounting for 32 per cent of sales
Next favourite is the five-door Focus C-MAX Multi-Activity Vehicle (27.5 per cent of sales), followed by three-door hatch (20 per cent), estate (14.5 per cent) and four-door saloon (six per cent)
Blue is currently the most popular Ford Focus colour (33 per cent), with silver close behind (31 per cent)
15 per cent of Focus cars are black. Red accounts for five per cent of the range
Most blue Focus models were bought at Ford dealers in the Hounslow, Leicester and Uxbridge areas
Leicester is the number one home of the grey Ford Focus
Ford employees take the biggest share of racy red Ford Focus sales, which are registered in Brentwood, Essex – home of Ford of Britain HQ
Morrisons bio-ethanol

Morrisons currently stocks Harvest bio-ethanol E85 at 10 fuel stations – five in East Anglia and five in Somerset