Better, much better than fiesta. I don't know about price in US but the Mk2 1.6 in croatia costs around 4000 US dollars less than VW Golf 1.6 with same basic equipment. If the Auto klub magazine is right about their 95%, the Focus Mk3 will be the
best hot hatch ever! The Mk3 platform (C1) will be the same as Mk2 (euro version) so the price shouldn't be much higher than Mk2.