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Ford Focus was best-selling nameplate in 2012

Last August, Ford made a few waves by claiming that the Ford Focus was, at that point, the top-selling car in the world. The automaker failed to account for variations of the Toyota Corolla wearing a different name (such as the Auris and Matrix), however. With official data from Polk coming in now, Ford is able to say that the Focus was, in fact, the best-selling nameplate in the world last year.
Using new-car registrations (which doesn't factor in fleet sales), the Polk data shows that a total of more than one million Focus models around the world. Strong sales in the US and China have led to a 16 percent increase in year-over-year Focus sales from 2011 that helped to create even more of a gap between it and the second-best global seller, the Corolla.
Ford also had the Fiesta and F-Series listed in the top 10 for worldwide nameplates, but what's even more impressive is the fact that the F-Series is only sold in North America. Scroll down to see the list (compiled by Ford using Polk data) of the top global sellers last year and a press release from Ford.

Radical RXC is a Mustang-hearted racecar for the road

Radical has been building fantastic open-cockpit racers and roadcars for years, for the track day enthusiast who wants a vehicle that looks like it could show up for a start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The company's latest creation is the RXC, and while this coupe looks like a prototype racer, it's road legal in the UK and in some parts of the US. When testing a car this, um, radical, the first thought is likely to get it to the track for some big slides and wide open acceleration, but XCar Films takes the opposite approach in its latest video to learn how this racer fares on public roads. The version tested here is the standard RXC with the 3.7-liter V6 out of the Ford Mustang tuned to 350 horsepower with a seven-speed sequential gearbox; but Radical also offers the same engine with 380-hp, a 454-hp Ford EcoBoost 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6, or even a 500-hp V8. Even in the most basic guise, it's a handful to control in the wet, if this video is any indication. The cliche of a road-legal racecar is bandied around a lot in the motoring world, but it truly applies to the RXC. The only problem with seeing the RXC exclusively on the road is that it can never really open up and show its full potential. This racer is indeed chomping at the bit to rocket off into the horizon, but all those pesky road safety laws hold it back. Still, the video is a chance to get a better impression about this thoroughbred sports car. Scroll down to check it out. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Wrap up some fun with Ford's commercial vehicle configurator

Ford has combined multiple steps into one with its commercial vehicle configurator, which allows users to choose, design and place orders for the Transit, Transit Connect, E-Series vans and F-Series Super Duty trucks.
The most interesting part of the new configurator is a fairly robust design tool. Users are able to choose paint color and wrap the vehicle, and then create their own graphics. No materials are needed - Ford provides numerous background textures, text boxes, plenty of shapes and 20 categories of images including floral, construction, plumbing and skylines. Self-created designs or images can be uploaded to the system as well.
We played around with the design tool a bit and uploaded our own image to create the Autoblog Podcast Live van you see here. Feel free to check out the configurator and make your own design.