The Blue Oval announced that Focus global registrations rose more than 16 percent in 2013, increasing its lead over the next competitor by more than 75,000 units. The figures are based on Ford’s analysis of the latest Polk global vehicle data for the first three quarters of 2013.
Ford said Focus global registrations from January through September 2013 grew to 856,587 units, of which 303,481 units were registered in China. Registrations in the world’s biggest car market rose 85 percent year-over-year according to Polk, with Focus being the best-selling passenger car nameplate there.
Ford says it now has two of the top five best-selling nameplates in the world – the Focus and Fiesta – with a combined 1,402,555 vehicle registrations during the January through September 2013 period. The Fiesta is the top-selling small car in Europe during the same period.
Last year, Ford and Toyota had a dispute related to the world’s best-selling nameplate, with the Japanese company claiming that the Corolla was ahead of the Focus. Ford said it sold 589,709 units of the Focus in the first six months of 2013, while Toyota said it sold 590,760 examples of the Corolla compact vehicle.
There’s no reaction yet from Toyota regarding Corolla sales in the first nine months of 2013, but something tells us the Japanese carmaker will reply to Ford’s claim.
By Dan Mihalascu
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