FORD in Britain moved back into profit last year reflecting the continued emphasis on cost efficiencies throughout 1997, chairman and managing director Ian McAllister said this week. The company recorded a pre-tax profit of £60 million on a turnover of £6,876 million last year compared with a pre-tax loss of £416 million on turnover of £6,946 million in 1996.

Performance was further enhanced by the introduction of the Puma and particularly strong performances by Galaxy and Mondeo, as well as full first-year sales of Ka and Explorer. Last year Ford sold 479,624 vehicles - 396,353 cars and 83,271 commercials of which 222,619 cars were bought by fleets, a 7% rise on 1996 fleet sales. The Mondeo was also the best-selling fleet car in Britain, with the Transit the leading van.