Car manufacturer Ford sold 22,128 cars in January, signifying a strong start 2010.

The figures are a five per cent increase on the same month last year and 6,122 sales ahead of its nearest rival firm.

Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus were the first and second best sellers respectively in the UK market, with sales driven by extended scrappage scheme incentives, and the company took 15.7 per cent of January vehicle purchases overall.

Nigel Sharp, Ford Britain managing director, commented that 2010 will present the company with challenges but the group has the vehicles and expertise to maintain a strong sales momentum.

"We have further enhanced Ford’s offer by paying this year’s VAT rise and look forward to new Ford S-MAX and Galaxy models on sale this spring," he said.

This month the S-MAX and Galaxy won awards in the Best Mini-MPV and Best MPV categories respectively at the 2010 BusinessCar Awards.

Car manufacturer Ford has been commended at the 2010 BusinessCar Awards.
The firm scooped accolades in the Best Mini-MPV and Best MPV categories for its S-MAX and Galaxy models.

In the latter category, Ford has come out top for four consecutive years.

Speaking about Ford’s continued success, BusinessCar editor Paul Barker said: "The S-MAX and Galaxy have proved their worth to the business car market, with the people that experience and rely on the products every day – the readers of BusinessCar – voting in their droves for the two models in their respective categories."

Last month, Ford was praised by visitors to FleetDirectory.co.uk, who claimed that the Mondeo was the best fleet vehicle in the UK.

The car was described by Richard Lawton, a spokesperson from FleetDirectory.co.uk, as a hugely popular model with a long-established reputation.

He claimed that Ford’s latest additions to the Mondeo, including the firm’s ECOnetic technology makes its popularity as a fleet vehicle understandable.

The Ford Mondeo has been voted the most popular fleet car in the UK in a recent survey.

According to industry website FleetDirectory.co.uk, the company’s Mondeo enjoyed a sizeable lead in terms of popularity of other shortlisted fleet vehicles – taking 20 per cent of the total vote.

Second place was given to the BMW 3-Series, which racked up just 14 per cent of the vote, with the Audi A6 coming in third with 13 per cent.

Richard Lawton, a spokesperson for FleetDirectory.co.uk, said: "The Mondeo is a very popular, long-established model, fleets and fleet managers trust in its solid manufacture. Add this to its smart innovations over the year, including the recent addition of the ECOnetic technology and the Mondeo is understandably very popular as a fleet car."

Other cars making up the top ten fleet vehicles included the Volkswagen Passat, the Jaguar XF, the Skoda Octavia and Citroen’s C5.

According to Volkswagen, the firm delivered 20.7 per cent less commercial vehicles in 2009 than it did in the previous year.

A scale model of the winning design in Autocar’s Hot Hatch 2020 competition has been created by modellers working at automaker Ford.

The Hot Hatch 2020 Design Competition opened in January last year and was won by Coventry transport design student Minwoo Hwang.

His creation has been turned from drawings into a physical design over the last several weeks by clay modellers working at Ford.

Paul Wraith, an experienced Ford designer who worked on the project, commented: "Things that may look good on paper or a computer screen won’t necessarily look good when you turn them into a scale or full-size model."

He added that Minwoo had to make compromises along the way, but described his design changes as intelligent and said he offers an interesting take on how hot hatch design may evolve in the future.

Earlier this week, Ford announced it will absorb the VAT increase imposed by the government during January.

Ford has used the occasion of the 2010 North American International Auto Show to unveil its next generation Focus.

With production scheduled to begin in both Europe and North America later this year, the US manufacturer has confirmed that the revamped Focus will spearhead its new range of C-class vehicles.

Delegates at the Detroit event treated to a preview of the new Focus learned that, as well as a sportier and more dynamic appearance, which includes a striking front end, a stylish interior and a chic driving console, the new Focus benefits from the same technology as the widely-praised new Ford Fiesta.

As such, in addition to high-level performance, the Focus will also boast EcoBoost fuel-efficient technology in its four cylinder turbocharged engines, allowing for fuel consumption savings of up to ten or 20 per cent on all outgoing models, while there will be 80 per cent compatibility with Ford car parts.

Unveiling the new model, Ford president and chief executive Alan Mulally explained that the company’s new C-car range will give customers "an affordable product offering quality, fuel efficiency, safety and technology beyond their expectations".

The Ford Focus was introduced in Europe in 1998, with a US launch following two years later.

One manufacturer is making more than Ford spares as the brand came up trumps in a recent award ceremony.

Ford’s Fiesta Van was crowned Small Van of the Year in the What Van? Awards.

Neil McIntee, What Van? editor, said: "Back with a vengeance, Ford’s all-new Fiesta Van is the hugely deserving winner of What Van?’s Small Van of the Year award. No matter which model you opt for, Fiesta Van is fun to drive."

Mr McIntee added that considering the cost of the motor, drivers get responsive steering, slick gearchange and sharp handling with an excellent driving position.

And the success did not end there, as the Transit scooped the title for Best Security – marking the sixth year in a row that the vehicle has taken the prize.

Following in the steps of its success came the Transit Minibus – a winner for the fourth time.

Nissan was also able to celebrate as it walked away with Van of the year for the Nissan NV200.

The Ford Focus RS has been described as a "worthy" winner after coming away from a Scottish awards ceremony with a prize.

Bill Caven is president of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers, which chose the motor as the best in the sporting category at the Scottish Car of the Year bash.

He said a combination of excellent features – affordability, power and poise – made the auto leader of the pack.

"The Ford Focus was the winner at the inaugural awards in 1998 and Ford has had winners almost every year, proving that Ford cars deliver what the Scottish market demands," Mr Caven added.

A total of 17 journalists comprised the panel of judges, selecting the model as the winner above competitors such as the Volkswagen Golf GTi, the Nissan 370Z and the Audi R8 V10.

The win represents the second milestone celebrated by the manufacturer this month.

Earlier in November, it announced that sales of the Fiesta had breached 100,000 so far in 2009.

A top racing legend picked up a Ford Capri for the weekend, in celebration of the racing success he has had with the brand.

Rod Birley has experienced success using Ford cars on numerous occasions, having competed in a 1994 Ford Escort Cosworth for the past ten years.

He commented on his current vehicle, the Escort, saying: "This car has seen over 200 chequered flags and is probably the most successful Escort Cosworth in motorsport.

Mr Birley was presented with a Capri at Ford of Britain’s Heritage workshop in honour of the completion of his last race.

He said of his most recent success: "The 500th win is a major milestone but I reckon there’s plenty more still left in me and the Escort!"

The Escort was used to claim two title prizes for the Thundersaloon Championship.

Other cars he has driven by the brand include the Falcon and RS500 Sierra.

Ford is currently offering an additional £4,000 off the price of a new vehicle, on top of the government’s contribution under the scrappage scheme for certain models.

For all of your Ford spares, contact 247 Spares.

Essex has hosted the Kick It Out event by Ford for the fourth occasion this year.

The aim of the Dagenham-base event was to bring together celebrities in a bid to stamp out racism in football.

Piara Power, director of Kick It Out, said: "Once again Ford put on a fantastically engaging event.

"The relationship between Ford and Kick It Out goes from strength to strength and is a great demonstration of good corporate responsibility in action."

Keen footballers were given advice and tips about the game from the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Bobby Barnes and a former England striker.

It was Bower Park School that came out as the champs from the day as 11 of its students won the opportunity of being centre circle UEFA banner bearers on November 4th.

Some of the guests in attendance included singer Lemar and actor Winston Ellis.

The Ford Motor Company claims to have made "the single greatest contribution to the automotive manufacturing process" with its development of the moving assembly line, first used in America.

For any Ford car parts you might need visit 247 Spares.

Motorists living in the London borough of Hillingdon who would like to experience first-hand the benefits of some of the latest green car parts to be developed by Ford may want to take part in an upcoming trial.

Residents in the area are being called upon to volunteer to test out battery electric vehicles based on the manufacturer’s Focus model.

As many as 20 households will get the opportunity to run the cars for three months.

Successful applicants will have domestic charging points installed in their homes.

Part of the funding for the project is to come from the government’s Technology Strategy Board – which was set up to promote ventures that reduce CO2 emissions and benefit the UK’s transport system.

Chairman of Ford’s UK division Joe Greenwell commented: "Battery electric vehicles represent an important step in Ford’s pursuit of more efficient and sustainable mobility."

In other news, the manufacturer’s fastest ever production car – the Focus RS – recently achieved fuel economy of 38.5 mpg at the MPG Marathon.