Ford's Focus and Puma are the two most popular models ordered through Virgin Cars which reports 1,500 orders in its first 16 weeks. The total value is put at £22m.

Ian Lancaster, Virgin Cars chief executive, said the daily order rate had accelerated to 30 over the past six weeks. A spokesman said Virgin Cars was delivering an average of 10 cars a day. He denied there was a backlog, saying delivery volumes would increase in step with demand.

“We don't take an order unless we know we can deliver the car,” he said. “Delivery takes from 10 days to five months, depending on the model. The average sale value over the first 12 weeks was £14,000 but we have many customers spending more than £60,000.”