Ford of Europe introduced the Focus in 1998 to the European market as a replacement for the Ford Escort.

The decision to name the new car the "Ford Focus" was made in early 1998, as Ford's overheads[clarification needed] had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publisher Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the cars in the German market since the name was already taken by one of its magazines (Focus).[2] This eleventh hour dispute was resolved, however, and the car was launched with the name Focus. The Focus MK1 was awarded the 1999 European Car of the Year award [3] Ford of North America began marketing the Focus in October 1999 as a surprise Christmas present for Ford's CEO Jacques Nasser, with some changes from the European version. The car launched as a 3-door hatchback, 4-door sedan and 5-door wagon; a 5-door hatchback debuted in 2000.[4]