Escort and New Fiesta A revised Capri II arrived in early 1974 which saw a hatchback replacing the traditional "boot". This was the first time that Ford had produced a car with a hatchback, adopting this new concept which had first been patented by Renault in the mid-1960s. Ford launched the Escort II at the start of 1975 which was essentially a rebodied version of the 1968 car and was largely mechanical identical, despite the larger, squarer body. The entry-level 950 cc engine which was rare in any country, was discontinued. In 1975, Ford overtook British Leyland (the combine which included Austin, Morris and Rover) as the most popular make of car in the United Kingdom. 1976 saw Ford Europe enter the supermini market with its first ever front-wheel-drive model. The Fiesta I was built at the company's new Valencia plant in Spain (and would also be produced at Dagenham and Cologne) and came with 950 cc, 1100 cc and 1300 cc petrol engines. It was briefly exported to the United States and Canada between 1978 and 1980. From 1981, it was available with a 1600 cc unit for the sporty XR2 version. In Britain where it launched in February 1977 and most of the rest of Europe took to it straight away and it was quickly among the best-selling cars in most of the continent, fighting off competition from the Volkswagen Polo, Renault 5, Fiat 127, Vauxhall Chevette and Peugeot 104. The new Taunus saloon and estate were launched on the continent at the end of 1975, with the UK market Cortina version being launched in late September 1976. The integration of the Ford range across Europe was now virtually complete, with the different nameplates on the Taunus/Cortina being the only separator. Ford launched the Granada II range in September 1977. In 1976, all Granada production had been concentrated to Cologne, Germany. The Consul badge was abandoned in 1975. In 1977, Ford finally overtook British Leyland as the market leader in the UK. The Mk III Capri coupé arrived in early 1978. By now Capri production was also concentrated at Cologne. In 1979, the Cortina/Taunus was given a very light facelift to create the "Cortina 80" (or Cortina Mk5). However, this was very much a short-term measure, as Ford was beginning to develop an all-new successor ready for a 1982 launch. 1980 saw one of the most important car