But take my Mom: she needs a larger car because she's tired of other drivers "looking down" on her (physically. Like, if you drive a Jetta around in the USA, well over 60% of cars are taller / bigger than yours and look down on you). She was also worried about getting in a collision: the Jetta's safety record may be good for a compact... but there's only so much that design can do when other cars are typically 1000+ lbs heavier than a Jetta.

Jeep Grand Cherokee is 4600 lbs. Toyota Rav4 is 3600 lbs. My boss drives a GMC Suburban at 5,586 lbs. Ford F150 (Pickup truck, which is a surprisingly common commuter vehicle) is 4000lbs curb weight.

The Jetta's 2900lbs curb weight will be a severe disadvantage against the "typical" car around here. There's a legitimate safety reason to go for a bigger car in America. Even if you're into "smaller cars", you typically choose like a Ford Fusion (3400lbs) which has the weight to keep up with everyone else on the road in the case of a collision.

I bet our parking lots and roadways are larger than yours to compensate for the difference in culture. But cars really are just bigger in America.