THIRTY of Ford's major fleet customers have been to Germany to see the new Ford Escort, which will go on sale in Britain in a year's time. The fleet chiefs are understood to have been fully briefed on the car by Ford's design team and their impressions will prove influential in terms of finalising engine and trim variants for the UK and marketing tactics.

The fleet managers who saw the car are understood to have been 'hugely impressed' by the new vehicle. Launch of the Escort - it will be seen for the first time in public at next autumn's Paris Motor Show - will follow the launch of lower medium sector models from chief rivals Vauxhall, Volkswagen and Citroen. The Escort's launch will follow that of the Cougar, Ford's all-new sports coupe, which will go on sale in Britain next summer.