Press Release
VALENCIA, Spain, 8 April, 2004 - The one-millionth Ford Focus to be produced at Ford's Almussafes plant in Valencia rolled off the production line today.Albert Lidauer, Ford of Europe Director of Vehicle Operations and Antonio Adés, Director of Manufacturing for Ford Spain, drove the landmark vehicle, a four-door Ford Focus saloon destined for the Spanish market, away from Final Assembly.
Production of the Focus began in Valencia on August 31, 1998. Since then the plant has undergone a complete and continuing transformation to make possible the production of up to 2,000 vehicles a day over three shifts. The plant currently produces not only the Focus, in both 4-door and 5-door versions, but also the Fiesta 5-door model, the Ka and the Mazda 2 models. This range makes Valencia the most flexible Ford production plant in Europe.
The Almussafes plant set itself a new production record in 2003 - for the second year running - when it built a total of 384,324 vehicles, including 187,359 Ford Focus, 88,010 Ford Ka, 68,028 Ford Fiesta and 40,927 Mazda 2. The Mazda completed its first year of production on 20 January.
It also beat its own export record last year, with some 88 per cent (341,378 units) of the total production being exported from Spain to 70 different markets on five continents. The previous record was the 304,337 units, exported the year before.
Since its launch in 1998, the Ford Focus has become one of the most popular vehicles in Europe, with some 468,000 units sold last year. The high reputation of this benchmark model was also reflected in it becoming the best selling car in the world for 2000 to 2001. In its seven-year history the car has received numerous awards around the world, including being the only car to have achieved "Car of the Year" titles both Europe and the United States.
The Ford Focus is also produced at Saarlouis in Germany, Saint Petersburg in Russia, Hermosillo in Mexico, Pacheco in Argentina and Wayne in the U.S.
