FORD is aiming to dominate the lower medium sector with Focus - the name chosen for the vehicle which will eventually replace the Escort. The Ford Focus made its world debut at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday and will go on sale in the UK on October 20.

Revealing the name of the car at an eve of show press dinner, Jac Nasser, president of Ford's worldwide automotive operations, said: 'Focus is a car that clearly travels a step beyond Escort and unquestionably a step beyond competitive cars.' Production of the Escort will continue, however, into the new millennium.

Ford of Britain chairman Ian McAllister added: 'Key fleets have seen Focus and have been impressed. It will rewrite the concept of the sector the same way as Cortina regenerated the C/D segment in the early 1960s.' Focus will be available in three-, four- and five-door and estate form, with Ford pledging that the saloon will be 'radically different.'