ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA-Ford Motor Co. (Detroit) recently produced its 50,000th Focus automobile at the company's St. Petersburg assembly plant, underlining what the company calls a "strong position" in the former Soviet Union.
With more than 28,000 units sold in 2004, the Focus was the best-selling model among foreign brands in Russia for the second consecutive year. In total, Ford sold 38,700 vehicles in Russia in 2004, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the previous year. Market share increased from 10.5 percent in 2003 to 11.5 per cent in 2004.