Global product head Derrick Kuzak said: 'Customers are voting with their wallets, they are coming out of larger vehicles and into smaller, more fuel efficient models – but they still want all the features of big cars.'

This trend is underpinning the company's One Ford strategy, one element of which is to use global platforms as the basis for up to 10 different bodystyles and sold in all markets around the world. Although this has been unsuccessfully tried in the past with Ford's last "world" car, the Mondeo – which didn't go down well with North American customers – the market has changed.

Mr Kuzak said: 'Customers around the world have converged in their desire for fuel efficiency although their expectations remain high. In terms of the package size Ford's European models are now the basis for our global vehicles.

'The advantage they have is that models such as the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo are also among the biggest in their respective segments.'

European product chief Joe Bakaj added: 'Using these models globally gives us economies of scale with means we can equip them to a very high specification which is what customers coming out of larger models tell us they want.'