Which Is The Global Best-Seller - Ford Focus or Toyota Corolla?

It has become an annual event that, each year in the weeks after the end of the financial calendar in March, Ford and Toyota both make an attempt to claim the title of producing the best-selling car in the world.

The sequence of events usually begins when Polk (a division of market intelligence firm IHS Automotive), a self-appointed aggregator of global vehicle sales, announces the world's best-selling car model for that particular year. Since 2012, the title of the world's best-selling car has been consecutively won by the Ford Focus.

Toyota is usually very quick to issue a press release denouncing Polk's conclusion, and insists that the Corolla is the best-selling model.

The argument

The disagreement here lies in semantics. Ford says its Focus is the same car sold worldwide and it is also the world's best seller by nameplate. Meanwhile Toyota insists that derivative models of the Corolla, including region-specific models (that may sometimes use a different name) should also be included in the sales tally.

A press statement by Toyota Motor Sales USA said: "Based on Toyota’s analysis, various competitive claims based on “single nameplate” registrations may have excluded data for Corolla Axio, Corolla Altis, Corolla EX, Corolla Fielder and Corolla Rumion, which are identified and marketed as Corolla sedans and wagons."

According to Ford, and citing full-year Polk new vehicle registration data from IHS Automotive, Ford sold 1,097,618 units of the Focus in 2013, up 8.1 percent from last year. The increase is driven mainly by strong acceptance by Chinese consumers. Ford says one out of three Focus models worldwide is sold in China.

Meanwhile, Toyota says the Corolla and not the Focus is the world’s best-selling car. Toyota's own analysis of Polk new vehicle registration data from IHS Automotive revealed that a total of 1,098,524 million units of Corollas were sold in 2013, a mere 906 cars more than the Ford Focus.

What LiveLifeDrive.com thinks…

In our opinion, it is quite obvious that the Ford Focus is the world's best-selling car simply because the Focus mentioned here, be it in hatchback, sedan or estate body types, are the same models sold worldwide. Plus, consumers from all over the world recognize these models as a Ford Focus. The same cannot be said for the Corolla.

As you can see from the images below, the Japanese market Corolla Axio and Corolla Fielder are very different from the Corolla models sold elsewhere. To include a dramatically different looking model like the Corolla Rumion into the grouping simply because it has a Corolla prefix in its name is rather stretching it.

Also, Toyota's argument is quite debatable when you consider the fact that some of the Corolla models it mentioned earlier are not even sold as a Corolla in some countries.

For example, Toyota reckons that the Corolla Rumion should be included in the tally but the Corolla Rumion is sold as the Ruckus in Australia, minus the Corolla prefix. What is known as the Corolla hatchback in Australia is also sold as the Auris in some European countries, again minus the Corolla prefix.

So on one hand Toyota says all Corollas should be included, but on the other hand, it also sells the very same models included in its own tally in some countries without the Corolla name.

Not only that, Toyota's press statement also said "The subscripts “Axio” “Altis” and “EX” denote trim levels of the 4-door Corolla sedan sold in various global regions, including Japan."

We cannot agree with this opinion because as you can see from the pictures above, the Axio is a very different car with a totally different body. The differences are more than just 'trim levels.' The Corolla EX refers to a previous generation Corolla sedan (Corolla Altis to us) that is still sold in China, positioned below the all-new Corolla sedan. Again, differences between the Corolla 'EX' and Corolla models sold elsewhere is more than just a trim level.

To be fair, Ford also sells the previous generation Focus in China as the Ford Focus Classic. But in Ford's defense, the model is still recognisable as a Ford Focus to consumers from around the world.

Thus we cannot agree with Toyota's argument that the Corolla is the world's best-selling car.

If Ford were to apply the same logic of including derivative models, the Ford C-Max and Ford Kuga should also be included in the sales tally.

Whether Ford's derivative models carry the Focus name or not is purely a matter of semantics and it is a reflection of the individual company's different marketing strategies rather than the global acceptance of the product itself.