I'll put in my .02 worth, somewhat along the lines of Jim....
I don't consider the Focus to be in the same class as the Contour, and do not consider it a direct replacement for the Contour. Just because Ford made it so does not make it so. Price, size, V6, all that stuff has some impact on perceived "status."
Ford even markets the Focus differently (though the Contour was never really marketed anyway), towards the under 28 crowd, the folks that would buy a Japanese car and tune it up. I think the Contour market was always slightly different than that....it was the cheap alternative to the 3 series, A4, etc.
