Focus stays on top in first quarter

Ford"s favourite, the Focus, managed to keep its mantle of Ireland"s best-selling car in the first three months of 2009. The latest statistics from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that, combined, the Ford Focus and Fiesta accounted for over 10 per cent of car sales in the first quarter. The new car market dropped by almost 65 per cent in the period from January to the end of March 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. A total of 32,589 new cars were registered for the first quarter of this year, compared with 93,045 for the same period last year. Ford was marginally ahead of Toyota in terms of total market share. VW held third place, followed by Nissan and Opel to make the top five makes. The Ford Focus range will be expanded this year with the arrival of the top-of-the-range Focus RS, which goes on sale in Ireland in June with a price tag of €43,565. Last week, Ford announced that it is extending its offer of €3,000 off all Focus petrol models. 'Changing economic conditions haven"t dislodged Focus from its leading position on the market over the past decade,' said Eddie Murphy, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland.