The real problem is that American consumers are demanding these gigantic monstrosity SUVs and trucks which literally cannot fit on European streets. When Ford et al were making hot hatchbacks, they were incredibly popular overseas. The inefficiency is at the consumer level.
My town is filled with massive Ford pickups. Pristine and clean, nothing in the beds. These people are no 'utilizing' the thing, it's just a status symbol. Annoys me so much.
European streets? My American city isn't even that old - much of the infrastructure is mid 90s - but modern vehicles just barely fit in the parking lots throughout it. It's common to see some asshole parking their pickup horizontally.
The bespoke UK/EU models are not the priority, again because they aren't being made in the US, so yes the quality drops.
You cannot get, for example, a new Focus in the US market. When you could, they were much higher quality.
The only Chevrolet you can buy in the UK is the Corvette. Chevrolet makes nine SUVs, four trucks (with however many infinite variations), and exactly one shitbox non-Corvette car.
If US automakers started turning their eyes towards smaller more efficient cars, where hauling Brayden to and from their soccer games didn't require multiple tons of steel, then they could compete in the EU market.
TBF, pretty soon you won't be able to buy a new Focus anywhere else, production finishes this year. Stellantis is still making cars of a similar size and could brand them as Chrysler for the US market.
