Ford of Europe introduced the Focus in 1998 to the European market as a replacement for the Ford Escort. The decision to name the new car the "Ford Focus" was made in early 1998, as Ford's senior management had been planning to keep the "Escort" nameplate for its new generation of small family cars. A last-minute problem arose in July 1998 when a Cologne court, responding to a case brought by the publisher Burda, ordered Ford to avoid the name "Focus" for the cars in the German market since the name was already taken by one of its magazines ("Focus"). This eleventh-hour dispute was resolved, however, and the car was launched with the name "Focus". The Focus MK1 was awarded the 1999 European Car of the Year award. The project manager for the Ford Focus at Dunton was Rose Mary Farenden.