French consumers could soon join the growing number of Europeans driving environmentally advanced vehicles by ordering a new Ford Focus Flexi-Fuel vehicle (FFV) or Ford Focus C-MAX FFV capable of running on bio-ethanol.

The announcement in Paris today that Ford of Europe is prepared to launch Flexi-Fuel Vehicles in France underlines and strengthens Ford's leadership position as the top manufacturer of bio-ethanol-powered vehicles in Europe.

Ford's FFV vehicles are capable of running on a blend of so-called E85 (85% bio-ethanol and 15% petrol), petrol only, or any mix of both. The use of bio-ethanol, in combination with FFV technology, can lead to a 70 percent reduction in overall CO2 emissions compared to a traditional petrol engine.

Delivering truly flexible FFV models

Today's announcement by Ford France follows similar initiatives in other European markets and the success-story of Ford's FFV technology in Sweden. It's the Swedish example that shows what can be accomplished through cooperation and partnership between companies from different industries (including fuel providers and distributors), as well as local and national government and non-governmental organizations (including fleet and private customer associations).

Since the market introduction of the first generation Focus FFV in Sweden in 2001, more than 15,000 Ford FFVs have been sold. This accounted for 80 percent of all Focus sales and 80 percent of sales of environmentally friendly cars in Sweden in 2004. The most recent data shows that 40 percent of all Ford sales in Sweden are FFVs.

Both the new Focus and the Focus C-MAX FFV models also went on sale in Germany in August of this year.

Ford's FFV models are capable of running on E85 and petrol or any mix of both in one fuel tank, making them truly flexible, both in terms of the choice/availability of fuel and customer operation.

Bio-ethanol is a renewable fuel derived from plants (such as cereals, sugar beet etc.) or biomass (such as wood waste). The primary environmental benefit is the reduction of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions – the main greenhouse gas thought to be responsible for global warming.

When using biomass or plant based material to derive bio-ethanol fuel, the CO2 circle can, to large degree, be "closed-loop." The photosynthesis process of plants sees carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants, etc during their growth only to be released as the bio-ethanol is used as fuel.