Filed under: Car Buying, Economy, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford, Earnings/Financials

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

We'll admit it. We didn't think sales of the 2008 Ford Focus would take off like they have, even after we had a 2008 Focus SES Coupe in the Autoblog Garage and for the most part liked it. The redesign for 2008 just left a bad taste in our mouths, and we didn't think anyone would fall for those garish fender vents. For whatever reason, be it the car's smooth ride, competitive pricing or exclusive availability of the SYNC system, the 2008 Focus is selling like crazy. Ford says that it sold 49,070 Focuses this year through March alone, which is up 23 percent compared to last year. More importantly, all of those additional Focus sales were to retail customers, not fleets. Last year the Blue Oval built 191,000 Focuses, but today it has announced that production will be ramped up at its Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant so that 245,000 units can be built in 2008.

For comparison's sake, Toyota sold 371,390 Corollas in 2007, while Honda sold 331,095 Civics and Chevy sold 200,620 Cobalts. The Corolla and Civic are both handily outselling their domestic competition so far this year, but the Focus is now slightly ahead of the Cobalt, which sold 48,024 units through March.

Gallery: 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe


[Source: Ford]Continue reading It has a nice personality: Ford boosts Focus production by 30% to meet demand

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