The Ford Focus is, according to Ford, currently the best-selling car in the world. Using data from vehicle information specialists Polk, Ford says the Focus has shifted 589,709 units so far this year – a 20 per cent increase on its sales in 2012.
Not surprisingly, China is now the Focus's biggest market with more than 200,000 sales, a whopping 137 per cent increase over last year.
In even better news for Ford, the Fiesta’s sales have also broken it into the top five in global charts, making Ford the only car maker to have two models in the top half of the league table.
"Fiesta is off to a terrific start, and Focus just keeps getting better – especially in China," said Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president, global marketing, sales and service.
“This is One Ford at its best: great-looking vehicles with great fuel economy, leading quality, technology, and fun-to-drive personalities.”
Expect the figures to be hotly disputed by both Volkswagen and Toyota though – claim and counter-claim is all part of the fun when the global hit parade numbers are totted up.
In spite of a general uptick in European car sales over the past couple of months, the outlook remains gloomy.That's according to Audi boss Rupert Stadler, who has told a conference of automotive executives in Munich that he sees no full recovery in Western Europe until at least the end of the decade. That's a much more pessimistic outlook than Stadler professed at the recent Frankfurt motor show, when he reckoned European car sales recovery was just a year or two away. Stadler's comments come at a time of news for European car markets.
While UK sales surge ahead, Spain is introducing a fourth round of incentives to try and kick-start demand for new cars, while Ford is winding back on production of the B-Max mini MPV because of weak European demand.
