The Ford Focus ranked as the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world for 2012 and for the first six months of 2013, according to an analysis of Southfield-based R.L. Polk & Co.’s global vehicle registration records.
Additionally, the Ford Fiesta ranked as the fourth best-selling vehicle, making Ford the only automaker to have two nameplates among the global top five best-sellers.
“(The data) is accurate based on the single nameplate Ford Focus,” said Anthony Pratt, Polk’s vice president of Forecasting, Americas, in a statement. “The data does not include any rebadged vehicles or platform derivatives for Ford Focus or any other vehicle nameplate versions.”
Pratt said the rankings are based on new vehicle registrations compiled from more than 80 countries around the world, representing 97 percent of global new vehicle volumes.
In the first half of 2013, Ford Focus vehicle registrations grew 20 percent from the same period last year, an increase that was driven primarily by increasing demand in China and other Asian countries. The Focus in China is up 137 percent from 2012, to a total of 202,380 vehicles, making the Middle Kingdom the single biggest global market for the car with one-third of Focus sales.
Through September, Ford reports Focus sales are up 193 percent in Indonesia, 72 percent in both the Philippines and Vietnam, and 42 percent in Thailand.
The Ford Fiesta earned the top spot as the best-selling subcompact car globally, with 356,434 units registered in the first half of 2013.
Combined, global registrations of Ford’s small cars – Fiesta and Focus – total 946,143 vehicles for the first six months of the year, representing an 8 percent increase.
In other Ford news, the automaker announced today that it delivered a record third quarter 2013 pre-tax profit of $2.6 billion, $426 million higher than a year ago. Third quarter earnings per share of 45 cents was 5 cents per share higher than a year ago.
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