(July 13, 2011) DEARBORN, Mich. — Customers seeking more versatile vehicles with better fuel economy are finding what they’re looking for in hatchbacks and U.S. sales of these popular five-door cars continues to skyrocket.

It’s a trend reflected in sales of two of Ford’s hottest-selling cars. Approximately 50 percent of retail sales of the 2011 Fiesta have been for hatchbacks.

On the market for just a few months, 41 percent of retail sales for the all-new 2012 Focus have been for the hatchback — a number Ford expects to continue rising.

“The hatchback is hitting an unmet need for versatility as people continue to downsize their vehicles,” said Paul Russell, Focus brand manager. “No other competitor in the top-five of total market share offers a hatchback option in the small car segment.”

The total number of hatchbacks available in the U.S. market increased 63 percent between model years 2006 and 2010, going from 291,853 to 475,048, according to Ward’s Auto World data.

2012 Ford Focus hatchback

“American car buyers have become appreciative of the convenience and flexibility that hatchback body styles offer after years of owning SUVs and crossovers,” said George Pipas, Ford sales analyst. “Combined with the generation of younger drivers who have been exposed to popular high-performance hatchback offerings in Europe and Asia, we may be seeing the beginning of a shift in buyer acceptance of hatchbacks.”

Unsure of how the market would react to new hatchback offerings, Ford prepared itself by investing in flexible plant capacity. This flexibility ensures Ford is able to react quickly to changing tastes, providing a vehicle mix — hatchback or sedan, base model or fully loaded Titanium — to serve varied customer demands.

Today’s hatchbacks offer more cargo space than sedans. The five-door Focus hatchback provides an additional 10.6 cubic feet compared with the sedan model and features a wide cargo opening and fold-flat load floor.

The five-door Fiesta hatchback also brings additional cargo room to the table, providing an extra 15.4 cubic feet of space.