Ford UK announces new MD

Mark Ovenden has been appointed managing director, Ford of Britain.

Ovenden replaces Nigel Sharp, who will retire next month.

Ford currently makes the UK's biggest sellers - the Ford Fiesta and the Ford Focus. However Ovenden joins at a time when Ford says it would sacrafice being the biggest seller to being more profitable, raising the possibility of it ending big discounts on new cars.

Ford of Europe chief Stephen Odell told What Car? this week: 'I will not chase business that doesn't make money. If someone sells more cars than us for a month [after] a year of unprofitable business, then that's a hollow victory.'