The Ford Focus is on track to top global car sales for the second year in a row, with the manufacturer’s own figures suggesting it has sold almost 590,000 units of the popular small car in the first half of 2013.
Ford claimed the Focus was the best-selling vehicle nameplate in the world in 2012, having delivered more than one million cars, beating the Toyota Corolla, which amassed 872,774 sales.
Toyota disputes this year’s claim by Ford, however, asserting that the Blue Oval’s figures don’t take into account identical Toyota cars sold under different model names in other countries.
Ford’s sales figures are based on registration data provided by the automotive research firm Polk.
Ford says Focus sales are up 20 per cent through the first half of the year, thanks largely to strong sales in China, which accounts for one-third of global Focus sales and is now the car’s largest market.
Ford sold 15,050 Focus sedans and hatchbacks in Australia to the end of September, representing an increase of 15.7 per cent over the same period in 2012.
Ford notched up more than 3.1 million sales worldwide during the first six months of the year. Its biggest growth was in China, where sales grew 137 per cent. Australian sales to the end of September are down 1.4 per cent to 64,964.
