No way would I tow anything with a Focus or similar size car. They are way to light in my opinion and are not made for towing. I think it would destroy them.
Well, if you are one of those people that bombs along at 80+ downhill in the mountains with 20k lbs behind you, then yeah, a 4 cylinder / FWD car will not be adequate.
But a smaller aluminum or steel utility trailer (like 6 x 10') loaded properly, used for certain purposes, and driven conservatively is fine (in most situations). By loaded properly, I mean very little tongue weight (~100 lbs or so) and keeping the load fairly light (under 2k). Even those things might not be a "comfortable" ride. That is part of it too, would I want to tow 2k with an automatic Focus in the mountains, no. But here it's fairly flat and a non issue. I would also not want to try to pull a boat out of the water with a manual FWD car either, or try to pull a trailer up a steep, slick hill with FWD even with snow tires. If those are on your list and you must have a manual then you'd probably have to go to a small pickup / SUV and even then, pulling a boat out of the water, you'd need something with low range 4x4, not just AWD (our boat ramps tend to get pretty slick and I've been there done that with manuals). So yeah, there's disclaimers. I guess when I see most people around here that "need" trucks and aren't construction workers, what they really "need" is flexible hauling - something with good MPG for the commute and a small trailer for Home Depot runs on the weekends. If you are talking something else, like towing a large camper then yeah, not an option, don't bother trying to do the car thing.