Company cars used to be far more straightforward. Others tried to muscle in, but for decades the primary battle for company car park territory was between Ford and Vauxhall – with the Blue Oval consistently the dominant force. At least it was until the slippery ‘jellymould’ Sierra arrived, leaving the door open for Vauxhall to take full advantage.
An army of reps loved the Ford Cortina, but the more advancedlooking and aerodynamic Sierra came along in 1982 and took the familiar four-door format with it. Vauxhall could offer its Mk2 Cavalier with slightly more reserved styling and the option of a saloon, so it was no surprise to see it become the market leader in 1984 and 1985. The Sierra would recover in fine style, but when the new Mk3 Cavalier arrived at the end of 1988, there was to be no repeat comeback. The Ford was knocked off its perch in 1990, and lost out to its Griffin-badged rival for the remainder of its 10-year life.
Arguably, it was the quality of the Mk3 Cavalier and the mediocre reception for cars like the Mk5 Escort that prompted Ford into bucking its ideas up – the Mondeo was proof that Ford had accepted that it had to offer good cars as well as good marketing, and indirectly the apathy of Ford’s design team in the early 1990s, through sales losses to other marques, led to the resurgence that gave us cars like the excellent Mk1 Focus. The last of the Sierras are often lumped in with the bad crowd as
