FORD is looking for annual global sales of one million luxury cars following its acquisition of Volvo's car division for $6.45 billion (£3.9 billion). The takeover of the Swedish manufacturer will allow Ford to attack the executive market with a broad portfolio which already includes Aston Martin, Daimler, Jaguar, and Lincoln (due to arrive in the UK later this year) as well as a third of Mazda.

Ford's immediate target is to sell 700,000 luxury cars next year, half a million more than last year, with Volvo's annual production of 400,000 cars taking the group a major step closer to this goal. Jacques Nasser, Ford's president and chief executive officer, said: 'There is huge potential to expand Volvo cars, and we will be looking for growth both geographically and in the breadth of the product range.'

He highlighted Ford's takeover of Jaguar as a blueprint for the way Volvo will develop, protecting the brand's heritage but giving it the resources to launch new models and grow the business. Future Volvo product development is likely to include pick-up trucks, people-carriers and sports utility vehicles, as Ford looks to extend a brand which in the United States attracts a higher proportion of younger and women new car buyers than either Jaguar or Lincoln.