Caravan Insurance

Car maker Ford has announced that sales of its diesel vehicles in the UK have soared by nearly 250 per cent over the past four years.

Ford sold 41,177 diesel cars in 2000, compared with a massive 100,343 units in 2004. Ford's Mondeo is currently the best-selling diesel car this year to date and the group's penetration of the UK diesel market has risen from 11 per cent in 2000 to 27 per cent in 2004.

The company also reported that its diesel/petrol mix vehicles have followed a similar steep growth curve to its diesel sales. Ford predicts that the UK diesel market will post its 60th successive monthly increase in September 2005 after figures indicated that diesel car registration figures were up almost 11 per cent last month.

The car giant claims that demand is now so high that it is continuing to expand its diesel offering in the UK. The firm's latest model is the new Ford Mondeo Zetec, which went on sale earlier this month, while 95 per cent of Ford Transit sales in Britain are diesel.

Ford Britain fleet director Kevin Griffin said: "Ford has benefited from this non stop five-year surge in diesel sales thanks to the increased refinement of its clean common-rail TDCi engine range. Our latest engines are characterised by frugal fuel consumption and CO2 emissions around 25 per cent less than the equivalent petrol engines."