Prospects for the European car market appear to be improving following Ford's announcement of plans to boost car and van production in Europe by 34,000 units.

According to Reuters, Ford of Europe explained in a statement that the move comes in response to increasing demand.

The largest increases will occur in the Focus and Focus C-MAX brands, with more than 11,200 extra vehicles being produced.

Fiesta and Fusion production will increase by 7,500 units, while an extra 5,000 Mondeo models will be built. Meanwhile, production of the Transit Connect van will jump by 7,000 units.

"It is expected that the total Ford production volume for the full year 2004 will grow and exceed the level of 1,550,000 achieved in 2003," Ford stated.

While Volkswagen and Peugeot lost market share last year in the face of Japanese and Korean competition, Ford maintained its share of the European market at 11.6 per cent.

Spokesman Niel Golightly added: "Basically what we are seeing is what we had hoped this year, which is a little bit of strengthening of the market and certainly continued strong demand for our products."

The news will provide welcome relief for the European automotive industry which has struggled in recent years as a result of patchy consumer confidence and problems with the global economy.