Three reasons:

First, gas is too cheap in the US, here in Europe gas is between seven and nine US$ per gallon, at this price you really get interested in economical cars.

Second, American cities still seem to have too much too good parking for large cars. In old European cities with narrow roads, you really learn to love cars that are shorter than four metres.

Third, in the American buyers perception, small means you cannot afford big. Here in Europe people are willing to spend as much for a small car as for a big car. So maybe Apple should sell cars in the US? Less -- but better targetted -- features for more money does not mean that the buyer is a poor guy!

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Richard in FLA...

I'll put it as simply as I can.

Because these cars are CRAP.

- they're beaten in mpg by much bigger, much faster hybrids
- they're painfully small (young children in the rear only, boot for a cat only (without the cage)
- they're usually underpowered thus painfully slow (0-60 in ~13 seconds, like this Ford Ka for instance) so overtaking a tractor trailer on a long trip is suicidal
- they're unsafe due to little weight, midgety crumple zones and, as above, little power
- for a price of a new one you can have a 3-year-old second hand vehicle two classes larger

Europeans don't love tiny cars. They loathe them. They buy them only because they cannot afford bigger ones since both cars and fuel are much more expensive in Europe than they are in the U.S.

Most popular car in EU? Peugeot 208 with some 70HP which is the size of Toyota Yaris.

Most popular car in the U.S.? Toyota Camry, two classes larger, 150HP.


===========================

Now I'll demonstrate the crappiness of these midgets by providing a size perspective first and then presenting their real life, observed fuel economy in relation to size. I hope you and anyone else will get the point.


#PERSPECTIVE - sizes of cars and numbers we'll give them

Car classes, sizes and a number we give them temporarily:

- 0 - Smart ForTwo = smallest city midget
- 1 - Tiny city car = like the Ford Ka Mentioned above
- 2 - City car = Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta, VW Polo
- 3 - Compact car = Corolla, Civic, Golf
- 4 - Small Midsize car = Toyota Prius
- 5 - Midsize Car = Toyota Camry, Honda Accord



# MPG vs SIZE, gasoline, diesel, hybrid

FORMAT:
Size number.....liter/100km......mpg(U.S)......car [remarks]

GASOLINE (all those midgets below are much slower than Prius)

4.....5,26...44,7.....Toyota Prius [HYBRID, 0-60 10.5 sec]
1.....5,31...44,3.....Citroen C1 [slow midget]
1.....5,4.....43,6.....Daihatsu Cuore [0 safety, slow]
1.....5,5.....42,8.....Fiat 126 [death on wheels]
1.....5,5.....42,8.....Toyota Aygo
0.....5,5.....42,8.....Toyota iQ
1.....5,6.....42,0.....Peugeot 107
1.....5,7.....41,3.....Daihatsu Trevis
3.....5,7.....41,3.....Honda Civic Hybrid[HYBRID]
0.....5,8.....40,5.....Smart Roadster
0.....5,9.....39,9.....Smart Fortwo
1.....6,1.....38,6.....Suzuki Alto
1.....6,2.....37,9.....Toyota Yaris
1.....6,3.....37,3.....Renault Twingo
1.....6,3.....37,3.....Kia Picanto
1.....6,4.....36,7.....Suzuki Splash
2.....6,4.....36,7.....Daihatsu Sirion
2.....6,4.....36,7.....Honda Jazz
2.....6,4.....36,7.....Kia Pride
2.....6,5.....36,2.....Renault Thalia
1.....6,5.....36,2.....Hyundai Atos
1.....6,5.....36,2.....Fiat Cinquecento
1.....6,5.....36,2.....Daewoo Matiz
1.....6,5.....36,2.....Seat Arosa
1.....6,5.....36,2.....Audi A2
1.....6,6.....35,6.....Fiat 500
1.....6,6.....35,6.....Hyundai i10
1.....6,6.....35,6.....Chevrolet Matiz
1.....6,6.....35,6.....Citroen AX
2.....6,6.....35,6.....Citroen 2CV

DIESEL (all those midgets below are much slower than Prius)

1.....3,6.....65,3.....Audi A2 3L [no longer made, deadly slow]
1.....3,7.....63,6.....Volkswagen Lupo 3L [even worse than Audi A2]
0.....4,2.....56,0.....Smart Fortwo
1.....4,3.....54,7.....Citroen C1 [53 horse power, midget]
1.....4,6.....51,1.....Citroen AX
1.....4,7.....50,0.....Seat Arosa
1.....4,8.....49,0.....Audi A2
1.....4,9.....48,0.....Peugeot 106
2.....4,9.....48,0.....Citroen Saxo
2.....4,9.....48,0.....Citroen C2
2.....5,0.....47,0.....Fiat Panda
2.....5,0.....47,0.....Nissan Micra
2.....5,0.....47,0.....Toyota Yaris
2.....5,0.....47,0.....Kia Picanto
2.....5,0.....47,0.....Dacia Logan
1.....5,1.....46,1.....Fiat 500
1.....5,1.....46,1.....Volkswagen Lupo
2.....5,2.....45,2.....Citroen C3
1.....5,2.....45,2.....Peugeot 205
3.....5,2.....45,2.....Mini Mini Clubman
2.....5,2.....45,2.....Renault Clio
2.....5,2.....45,2.....Nissan Note
2.....5,2.....45,2.....Skoda Fabia
2.....5,3.....44,4.....Mazda 2
2.....5,3.....44,4.....Ford Fiesta
2.....5,3.....44,4.....Volkswagen Polo
0.....5,4.....43,6.....Smart Forfour
2.....5,4.....43,6.....Opel Corsa
1.....5,4.....43,6.....Renault Modus
2.....5,4.....43,6.....Fiat Punto


Source: http://www.spritmonitor.de/de/die_sparsamsten_autos.html German drivers drive, German drivers log their mileage, German drivers publish it. Thousands of them. I converted the data into mpg for your convenience and added remarks when necessary.

I've got tired...

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downtoearth: Stop making assumptions about what Europeans think, because you are clearly not representative nor European. And please be more to the point.

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All of this and I still don't understand how these cars don't make financial sense in the US?

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