US Ford Hot Hatch Sales Are Up, Despite An Overall Decline In Turbo Hatchback Sales

Some products are so good, they can weather any storm.

Such is the case, apparently, with Ford Performance’s range of hot hatchbacks: the Ford Fiesta ST, Focus ST, and all-new Focus RS. Together, sales of those models are up 21.3 percent year-over-year through September 2016, says Ford, even while crossovers and SUVs claim ever more market share. By comparison, industry-wide sales of non-luxury, turbocharged hatchbacks are down 21 percent through the same period.

(Most of the increase in Ford Performance hot hatch sales is attributable to the new RS; the Fiesta ST and Focus ST are up 7 and 5 percent in the US, respectively.)

“For decades, we heard criticism from customers that Ford sold its best small cars only in Europe,” says Ford Focus Brand Manager Jessica Bishop. “Yet in five short years we’ve built a reputation here for making very serious but affordable performance cars with our Focus ST and Fiesta ST one-two punch.”

Even sales of non-performance, turbocharged Ford hatchbacks remain strong, with EcoBoost-powered Ford Focus models climbing a whopping 37 percent year-over-year through September.

All of these claims are based on IHS Markit data regarding US new-vehicle registrations. September 2016 is the last month for which data is currently available.