Here's my take
Chevy Cruze- If you like Toyota Corolla you'll love the Cruze. Looks clean, upmarket, and a bit european, but overall non offensive and conservative. It also rides well, quiet ,and not all that sporty. Older buyers will be happy here.
Ford Focus- If your more of a Civic person you'll take the Focus. More aggressive styling in and out, lots of techno goodies, ( sync, dsg tranny) More hp, a more sporting ride overall.
Really, hats off to both companies for finally coming out with very competitive cars in this segment. And I hope they have performance versions coming for both of these models, i'd love to see a 5 door Cruze or Focus with 250+ hp.
That Focus looks nice, if they were to price the ST right, I would consider it as my first new car