Newest data showed that the Ford Motor Co.'s Focus model had beaten its rivals in 2012 global car sales. The Focus model became the world's best-selling car due to sharply increasing demand in China. The findings of the survey by R.L. Polk & Co. indicated that three models of Ford Motor Co. were in the world's top six.

Best-selling car in 2012

On the 9th of April, R.L. Polk & Co. released its survey on global market registration data showing that the Ford Motor Co.'s Focus model undeniably won the title of the best-selling car in 2012 global car sales. The survey indicated that Ford Motor Co. sold slightly over 1 million Focus vehicles, beating substantially its rivals, including the Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla compact car. According to the figures, the Ford Focus sales outsold the Corolla, which is said to be its biggest rival, by approximately 147,000 units. However, it should be underlined that the Corolla is sold under other names in different countries unlike the Ford Focus. Therefore the Dearborn-based company is rather careful when it comes to claiming titles, including the title of the best-selling car. Also analysts note that a single name of the model helps in the process of building a brand, not to mention that it does not create unnecessary chaos.

Without a doubt, China's sales very much helped the Ford Motor Co.'s Focus model gain the title of the No. 1 in 2012 global car sales.

Also two other models of the Dearborn-based company, namely the Ford F-Series pickup and Ford Fiesta, were ranked in the world's top six. In fact, analysts are strongly convinced that the US carmaker will be much more interested in the surprising results of those two models which also won their places in the ranking of the best-selling cars in 2012. Interestingly, the F-series pickup won the bronze medal with more than 785,600 vehicles sold in 2012. However, it is widely known that "these" pickups have their main market in North America where in fact a picture of a huge track is natural because of culturally-driven reasons. The findings of the survey showed that their sales in the US and Canada amounted to approximately 1 percent of the 2012 global car sales.

China's market - a success driver

Even though Ford Motor Co. sells the Focus all over the world in over 100 countries, the truth is that the model won the title of the best-selling car in 2012 mainly thanks to its sales in the China's market. According to estimates, the US carmaker sold almost 300,000 Focus cars in China in 2012 which is certainly surprising as the new model of the Focus was launched in the world's second economy only in March 2012. In addition, data released by R.L. Polk & Co. showed that the Chinese registration climbed more than 50 percent in 2012.

Jim Farley, executive vice president at Ford Motor Co., believes that the carmaker's global sales in 2013 will be boosted by recently added capacity. The US carmaker expects to witness strong car sales in China also in the ongoing year. But the fact is that Ford Motor Co. and other carmakers saw their sales in China jump in 2012 due to the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands leading to slumps in sales of the Japanese car manufacturers.

Industry Leaders Magazine