America's 11th Best-Seller Was World's No. 1

The Ford Focus may not have made America’s top 10 best-selling cars of 2012 list — it ranked 11th — but Ford says its compact car was No. 1 globally last year. Citing registration data from industry forecaster R.L. Polk, the automaker said it sold 1.02 million Focuses worldwide. One in four were sold in China, the world’s largest passenger-car market since 2010. The Focus became China’s best-selling passenger car for the first time in 2012, Ford says.

Another quarter of sales came from the U.S., where Focus sales rocketed 40%. Ford adds that among global sellers, the F-Series pickup — America’s perennial best-seller — ranks third. The Fiesta subcompact, meanwhile, ranks sixth.

But the Focus stole the show. And, we should note, it’s the same car worldwide. That wasn’t the case with the prior Focus, which Ford reworked twice to keep in U.S. showrooms through the 2000s while Europe got a bona fide second-gen car. What are the other 2012 global best-sellers? USA Today reports the list:

1. Ford Focus: 1,020,410
2. Toyota Corolla: 872,774
3. Ford F-Series: 785,630
4. Wuling Zhiguang: 768,870
5. Toyota Camry: 729,793
6. Ford Fiesta: 723,130
7. Volkswagen Golf: 699,148
8. Chevrolet Cruze: 661,325
9. Honda Civic: 651,159
10. Honda CR-V: 624,982

Oh, and this is the Wuling Zhiguang, also called the “Sunshine.” Yeah, we’re not missing it here, either.

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