New price of an EsCos was around 23 grand & that was more than 10 years ago.

Thus a new Focus would need to be costing around 35 grand (or more depending on how you chose to count inflation over the intervening years) to be comparable.

In conclusion then, this new Focus is perhaps more a Mk 5 RS 2000 for the 21st century than an Es Cos replacement 'cos it's just too cheap to be that.

Bear in mind that 35 grand buys a shiny new Imprezza or Evo, surely the cars we want Ford to be competing against, on the street, not just on the gravel.