Ford, Toyota Spar Over “Best-Selling Car” Claim

Ford and Toyota each claim they are making the world's best-selling car model. Both are correct depending on how they define their nameplates, Bloomberg News reports.

Ford cites data from IHS Automotive showing that its Focus sold 489,600 units in the first six months of 2012 compared with 462,200 units for Toyota's Corolla. The market analysis firm says its numbers indicate "single-car nameplates," meaning vehicles sold under the same name.

Toyota says its Corolla sales for the period totaled 603,800 units. That total includes derivatives such as the Auris in Europe and Matrix in the U.S. models that were excluded by IHS. Toyota says it consistently includes those vehicles in its "Corolla" sales numbers.