MOTORISTS have voted Ford as the most popular make of car on sale in Britain - again.
More than three decades after it first grabbed UK market leadership from British Leyland, the US manufacturer remained the favourite brand of car buyers in 2009.
One in six new vehicles leaving the showrooms last year wore the blue oval and the company registered a total of 316,369 cars despite the biggest economic downturn in two decades.
Sales to retail customers were 5,500 higher than in 2008 and Ford's share of the total car and commercial vehicle market increased from 16.3 per cent to 16.7 per cent.
'Early last year, the Fiesta took over the top UK sales position from the Focus and the pair retained first and second position in the charts right through to the end of the year," said Ford UK managing director Nigel Sharp.
'Our strong performance underlined once again the market appeal of our best-ever product line-up. This year looks set to be another year of tough trading, but we will continue to benefit from a flow of new models including S-MAX, Galaxy and C-MAX and the unrivalled strength of our dealer network.'