The Ford Sierra was a series of mid-size cars introduced for the 1983 model year by Ford Europe. The Sierra was created to replace the Ford Cortina, and was offered in liftback, saloon, and station wagon body styles. Two generations of Sierra were built, Mk I (1983-1987) and Mk II (1988-1993), with a wide range of inline four and V6 engines available. Ford used the Sierra in a wide range of motorsport, from rallying to touring car racing. These Sierra Race Cars created some notable performance variants such as the Sierra RS Cosworth, the Sierra RS500 Cosworth, and the Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth. Production lasted until 1993, when the Sierra was replaced by the Ford Mondeo. A rebadged version of the Ford Sierra was sold in North America as the Merkur XRT4i.