2012 Ford Focus is the world's most popular car(Photo: Ford Wieck)
Which car outsells all others around the world?
Ford says it's
the Focus compact, with the smaller Fiesta positioned right behind to be
the best seller in its class. There's only one day left in the sales
year, so Ford apparently feels safe in making the call.
Worldwide, Ford says there were 737,856 Focuses registered through September. Fiesta was at 560,061.
Focus
is a breakthrough vehicle for Ford, which used to make separate models
under the same name for Europe and U.S. Now the same vehicle is sold in
both places, and around the world, giving a huge cost saving to the
automaker. That's important considering the switch to small cars hurts
automakers' bottom lines because they charge more for larger vehicles
that don't cost that much more to make.
"Focus and Fiesta
represent the best of our 'One Ford' plan," said Jim Farley, Ford's
executive vice president, Global Marketing, Sales and Service and
Lincoln. "In just three years, Ford has transformed our global small car
lineup and started winning over customers worldwide with vehicles that
are not only fun-to-drive but also fuel-efficient - largely thanks to
our award-winning EcoBoost engines."
USA Today