Prior to this, the two companies avoided marketing their vehicles in one another's domestic markets, and in much of the rest of western Europe were direct competitors, with totally separate product lines, despite being owned by the same American parent, in a similar manner to General Motors' Opel and Vauxhall subsidiaries at the same time – indeed GM followed Ford's precedent in the 1970s by merging the operations of Opel and Vauxhall into General Motors Europe.

The Escort was a rear-wheel drive small family saloon that took the place of the British Anglia range and was built in both Britain and from 1970, Germany, although it was sold there from the outset.

It quickly became popular with buyers, outselling key UK competitors from BMC (later British Leyland), Vauxhall (Opel in Germany) and the Rootes Group.

Loosely based on Ford UK's rear-wheel drive Mk II Cortina saloon platform, it came with engines ranging from 1300 cc to 3000 cc and was made in Britain and Germany (with a different range of German V4 and V6 engines) and was an instant success, frequently featuring as one of Britain's top 10 best-selling cars and also doing well in most other European markets.

[3] In March 1972, Ford Europe replaced their executive models from Britain (Zephyr/Zodiac) and Germany (17M/20M/26M) with the Consul and Granada (large saloon, estate and coupé) which was aimed directly at the Opel Rekord, Rover P6, Audi 100 and Triumph 2000.

In the early 1970s, Ford took the decision to enter the growing European supermini market and began to develop a competitor for the well-received new Fiat 127 and Renault 5.

A site near Valencia, Spain, was chosen to build a new factory in order to accommodate production for the new car which was scheduled for a mid-1970s launch.

Ford launched the Escort II at the start of 1975 which was essentially a rebodied version of the 1968 car and was largely mechanical identical, despite the larger, squarer body.

In 1975, Ford overtook British Leyland (the combine which included Austin, Morris and Rover) as the most popular make of car in the United Kingdom.

In Britain where it launched in February 1977 and most of the rest of Europe took to it straight away and it was quickly among the best-selling cars in most of the continent, fighting off competition from the Volkswagen Polo, Renault 5, Fiat 127, Vauxhall Chevette and Peugeot 104.

The Escort III went on sale across Britain and Europe in September that year, with its ultra-modern aerodynamic styling and updated front-wheel drive mechanical layout.

1983 saw the seven-year-old Ford Fiesta receive an updated MK2 version that retained the three-door hatchback bodyshell but smoothed out the previously boxy edges to give it a more modern look and keep it competitive with a string of new European and Japanese superminis which hit the market during 1982 and 1983.

Also in that year, Ford introduced a new four-door saloon to meet the demands of buyers looking for a booted alternative to the Escort and Sierra hatchbacks and estates.

[citation needed] High equipment levels, a comfortable interior and solid build quality ensured that the German-built Scorpio was a success all over Europe and was voted European Car of the Year for 1986.

An updated Escort and Orion appeared in March 1986, called the "Mark 4", it featured Scorpio-influenced front-end styling, revised engine options and an all-new interior.

The Mk5 Escort was launched in September 1990, along with the Orion saloon, but the motoring public and press gave it mixed to negative reviews.

The car's styling lacked the flair of some rivals and it received mostly negative ratings for ride and handling, while it also retained the engine line-up of the previous generation with 1.3, 1.4 and 1.6 petrol units and a 1.8 diesel.

The RS2000 nameplate had been abandoned back in 1980 and the new version was undoubtedly the best, with its 2.0 16-valve I4 engine and the option of four-wheel drive, as well as its impressive top speed of more than 130 mph (210 km/h).

In spite of this and impressive new models being launched by rival companies Vauxhall and Rover, Ford were still firmly positioned at the top of the British car sales charts in the early 1990s and enjoyed a strong market share in virtually all European countries, expanding into Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 1990s following the collapse of communism.

They even enlisted the help of Brian May to record a new song, "Driven by You", which featured in their new TV advertising campaign for the whole Ford range in the UK.

Ford responded to criticism of the Escort's shortcomings in September 1992 with a minor facelift which saw the introduction of its impressive new 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 Zetec 16-valve units, the latter of which also found its way into the Fiesta RS1800.

February 1993 saw Ford launch a ground-breaking new family car in the shape of the Mondeo, the replacement for the Sierra made to rival the newer Opel Vectra/Vauxhall Cavalier, Peugeot 405 and Nissan Primera.

Finally making the transition to front-wheel drive, the Mondeo came with an impressive range of new 16-valve Zetec petrol engines as well as a 2.5 V6 that joined the line-up in 1994.

Available with 2.0 16-valve and 2.5 V6 petrol engines, the Probe was well regarded for its handling and performance but failed to sell as well as Ford had hoped and was withdrawn from Europe three years later.

The Ford Mondeo was relaunched in an all-new MK2 version in late 2000 and was pipped for the European Car of the Year award by the Alfa Romeo 147.

The new Mondeo was more competitively priced than its predecessor, but its real strengths were its excellent accommodation and driving experience which put it back on top of the large family car sector.

The demise of the Puma in 2002 left Ford without a competitor in the coupé sector once more while the Focus ST170 which launched at that time could be seen as an indirect successor.

Excellent ride and handling, good equipment levels, solid build quality and a comfortable interior all won praise for those who experienced the new car.

The only major criticism of the Focus was its unoriginal styling which differed little from that of its predecessor but it remained one of the most popular cars in Europe during a production life which lasted more than six years.

20 years after the original model launched, the Focus entered its fourth-generation: it saw Vignale and Active versions join the line-up; a restyle and updated mechanical components.