To say that Ford has made an epic comeback in a cutthroat industry in just a handful of years really doesn’t do the story of the Blue Oval’s incredible turnaround justice. There were detractors who wondered out loud if Ford wasn’t reaching the end of its time as an independent automaker. Now Ford is riding an unparalleled wave of enthusiasm and loyalty to its products.

That success is showing in Ford’s awesome profits, quarter after quarter. More than that though, the Ford Focus was the world’s best-selling nameplate in 2012, according to the people at Polk. That’s definitely something worth bragging about.

The Ford Focus is sold around the world, not just the U.S., and strong sales from China have helped bolster Focus sales despite an economic downturn in Europe. Polk used new car registration data, which doesn’t factor in fleet sales, to pin down Ford Focus sales as breaking over the 1-million unit mark. According to Polk, Ford sold 1,020,410 Focus models in 2012, up from 879,914 in 2011. 

That puts the Focus ahead of other big names including Corolla, Golf, and Civic. While a bulk of these sales come from the standard Focus model, Ford has made an effort to bolster the sporty image of the Focus. The EcoBoost-powered Focus ST, with 252 horsepower certainly helps with that. Shelby has also taken to tuning the Focus, as has Hennessey Performance Engineering, giving this new Focus a focus on horsepower and performance.

Shelby is one of several tuners turning up the power on the new Foucs ST

Ford had two other nameplates in the Top 10; the subcompact Fiesta and the F-150 full-size pickup, which is only sold in North America. Ford has come a long way in such a short time, and the new Focus is proof that when Ford gets a car right, they get it really right.