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[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by jayeh

The ninth least powerful car for sale in the US has an engine that is larger than what the same model car in the rest of the world comes with. Interesting.

I wonder if part of the reason for the smaller engines not being available in the U.S. is that the opposite of the 'bigger is better' feeling that exists in the U.S. can only be pushed so far. I think the biggest reason the smaller engines available in Europe aren't available in the U.S. is that gas doesn't cost enough to push the will of the people (and I'm NOT one of those people who wants the price of gas to go up to nudge people to use less....I'm just sayin'...). Another reason I think a smaller engine isn't offered is I think Toyota might fear that consumers wouldn't have enough confidence that they could safely navigate U.S. freeways given that said freeways have so many low skill drivers on them. Another avenue to look at would be how well have cars with a smaller than 1500cc engine sold in the U.S. in the past, how did the engine size factor in to the sale of that particular model, and how specifically has the market changed since that time.