This is just a selection of some of the make’s achievements during its lengthy and hugely successful stint competing on the global stage.

Three FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ titles - 1979, 2006 and 2007

Two FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ titles - 1979 Bjorn Waldegard and 1981 Ari Vatanen

308 rallies contested

82 wins: Ford Focus WRC 44, Ford Escort 31, Ford Fiesta RS WRC 6, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 1

315 podiums

158 consecutive points finishes, from 2002 Rallye Monte-Carlo to 2012 RallyRACC-Rally de Espana

Eight 1-2-3 finishes

21 1-2 finishes

One 1-2-3-4 finish 1979 Rally New Zealand

24 consecutive podium finishes from 2008 Jordan to 2010 Sweden

13 wins in Greece, Ford’s most successful rally

14 victories registered by MIkko Hirvonen, Ford’s most successful driver (Marcus Gronholm scored 12 wins with the Blue Oval, Colin McRae nine)

24 different rallies won

18 different drivers have won in Ford cars

1997: the year when M-Sport took on the running of Ford’s factory programme in the WRC and the year the new partnership scored its first victory (in Greece with Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya)

Five consecutive wins in 2009 - Italy, Greece, Poland, Finland and Australia

Unquantifiable: just how much we’re all going to miss them...