According to the company, sales of the Ford Ka will begin across Europe from early 2009. The new Ka is the result of a joint vehicle development and production co-operation agreement between Ford and Fiat.

The company said that the annual production of Ford Ka will be 120,000 units a year. The introduction of the Ka to Tychy has resulted in 1,000 extra jobs being created at the plant and many more among locally-based suppliers. Ford's investment in the project amounted to E210 million.

Ian Slater, vice-president of communications and public affairs at Ford of Europe, said: "It was three years ago that we reached agreement with Fiat to produce the new Ka here in Tychy. One of the strengths of this co-operation has been that both parties wanted to produce vehicles which would be very different in looks and character."