The talented Ford Focus ST has been on sale in Europe since October of 2012. It is a more practical five-door alternative to the usual three-door hot hatches with around (or over) 250 hp. Its suspension setup is also considerably softer than that of its rivals, which makes it comfortable when driven normally.
It is also very well priced for what it is and even in the more basic trims, it comes with lots of goodies.
This has all translated into impressive sales figures, in the last quarter of 2012, Ford managed to shift 1,984 units throughout the Old Continent. All of this means that they took a hefty chunk of the hot hatch market for themselves, achieving a share of 44 percent.
The Top 5 list includes the Golf GTI, with 33 percent and the RenaultSport Megane (a more track-focused offering) which achieved a 12 percent share. It is worth noting that the regular Focus is also selling very well.
Ford has now managed to sell a total of 3,819 Focus STs, of which 74 percent are hatchbacks and 26 percent are estates / wagons. When it comes to colors, the top pick was Frozen White (41 percent), followed by Panther Black and its trademark color, Tangerine Scream with 17 percent.
Things can only get better for the Blue Oval, now that they’ve also launched the Fiesta ST, which is more suitable for city dwellers, thanks to its lower emissions and smaller dimensions. With both ST cars on showroom floors, we say sales of ST-branded models will go up considerably in 2013.
By Andrei Nedelea
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