The term “hot hatchback” originated in the 1980s, though the cars that earned the title had been around for some time before that. For decades now, the hot hatchback market in Europe has been dominated by the Volkswagen GTI. But a new contender for the crown is making waves in the Old World, stealing sales from the perennial favorite.

The 2013 Ford Focus ST dominated hot hatch sales in the last three months of 2012 in a European car market that can best be described as awful. But PaddockTalk reports that the Focus ST managed to capture almost half of the hot hatchback market, outpacing every competitor, including the GTI.

It’s no secret that European car sales have been in the crapper lately, and pretty much every automaker is losing money at this point. But there is always a silver lining, and despite being released into an unfriendly market, over 3,800 Ford Focus ST units have found a new home. Of those, about 75% were hatchbacks, while 25% were wagons. Yup, those Europeans get a wagon version of the ST. Lucky bastards.

In the last three months of 2012, Ford sold 1,984 Focus ST models, capturing about 44% of the market. The Volkswagen GTI meanwhile grabbed 33% of the hot hatch market, with the Renault Megane Sport coming in a distant third with 12% market share. With 252 horsepower and a host of performance technologies, no wonder the Focus ST is proving so popular with people.

But that makes us wonder…how are Focus ST sales doing in the U.S.? We’ll have to find out.