Focus Sales Surge 58% in Dec, 40% for 2012

[FF4]

impressive US sales figures for the Focus, with December sales 58% greater than last December

December: 22,604 + 58.3%

Total 2012: 245,922 + 40.0%

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[dan50]

Impressive results. Seems to be a battle between the car's indifferent reputation (see MFT, DCT) and the really large cash incentives available.

Let's see: 22,604 sales * $ 2,000 or so per car=$ 45,000,000 just in December. Could do a lot of MFT and DCT reengineering for that and get a car that would sell based on its inherent goodness and critical acclaim rather than its low price.

[valmundo]

Yeah, like Honda didn't have any incentives in order to get rid of their 2012 civics.

[unclebrud]

Originally Posted by dan50

Impressive results. Seems to be a battle between the car's indifferent reputation (see MFT, DCT) and the really large cash incentives available.

Let's see: 22,604 sales * $ 2,000 or so per car=$ 45,000,000 just in December. Could do a lot of MFT and DCT reengineering for that and get a car that would sell based on its inherent goodness and critical acclaim rather than its low price.

Impressive, but how much of that total is due to fleet/rental sales?

I agree that they are just throwing money at buyers now. When the Mk3 first came out, I thought that the Focus might be able to shake the commodity car rep, but that was proven wrong, I guess. Probably some of that has to do with the MFT/DCT issues.

Now, if they'd just throw some cash on the hood of the ST...

[tdo]

Bought mine a couple weeks ago only because of the incentives. Got over 20% off from MSRP with the help of them (don't get any Ford worker incentives). Otherwise would have waited till spring. It's sitting now under a car cover, in the snow, till spring, while we use the 2002 one last winter.

[FF4]

incentives on the Focus were the same as last December, the increase in sales is due to added production. A 3rd shift was added in the summer in response to strong demand.

What's most impressive is that even with much better than expected sales of the C-Max, Focus sales still surged 58%. The C-Max doesn't seem to stealing sales from the Focus.

[tdo]

Originally Posted by FF4

What's most impressive is that even with much better than expected sales of the C-Max, Focus sales still surged 58%. The C-Max doesn't seem to stealing sales from the Focus.

We were very much interested in the C-Max. But once we got the options we wanted on it, the price just jumped out of what we wanted to pay.

Plus, it didn't look so much like a mini-van on-line at Ford. I was surprised how tall it was when I actually saw it on the lot. Never showed it to the wife, and she is deadfast against getting a minivan.

[gkirk]

Originally Posted by tdo

We were very much interested in the C-Max. But once we got the options we wanted on it, the price just jumped out of what we wanted to pay.

Plus, it didn't look so much like a mini-van on-line at Ford. I was surprised how tall it was when I actually saw it on the lot. Never showed it to the wife, and she is deadfast against getting a minivan.

I saw a c-max the other day and it looked more like a focus than I was expecting.

The huge selling point of that car is the 47mpg. I'm really curious what people get with it.

edit: just looked it up and it looks like it doesn't generally get 47 in real world driving. Although in one review it was also faster than a GTI and about the same speed to 60 as the focus ST.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by gkirk

The huge selling point of that car is the 47mpg. I'm really curious what people get with it.

People seem to be averaging more like 40mpg and there's word that Ford's testing is going to get checked by the EPA...

However, the people that would buy a C-Max are probably loading it with several kids and probably have a lot of traffic in their commute, otherwise they wouldn't shell out the extra money for a hybrid. But still, the mileage claims are 47/47. So the 40mpg still seems kind of low to me. EDIT: Especially with the Prius getting 49mpg and Prius V getting 42mpg in real life/Fuelly. It really upsets me how far behind the US still is when it comes to gas mileage. The Prius C is getting over 50mpg!

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/c-max/2013

http://www.usatoday.com/story/driveo...ports/1756237/

[unclebrud]

Originally Posted by gkirk

I saw a c-max the other day and it looked more like a focus than I was expecting.

The huge selling point of that car is the 47mpg. I'm really curious what people get with it.

edit: just looked it up and it looks like it doesn't generally get 47 in real world driving. Although in one review it was also faster than a GTI and about the same speed to 60 as the focus ST.

I think the C-Max looks great - it is high-time for a spacious car that is not huge. I wish it had a Turbo-Diesel engine instead of the hybrid setup, though. And, Ford's prices are mad these days...they must bake in the inevitable rebates from the start.

There is no way that it is as quick as an ST or GTI. It's probably a 9-10sec car to 60mph.