Ford recently rolled out a completely new big block v8 engine family for their trucks and vans. OEMs don't do that kind of thing unless they expect to crank them out for 10-20yr.

I think it's important to point out that all those cars come from a country where gasoline is cheap and emissions rules lax. The rest of the world, for the most part, moved on.

Indeed, in my country I'd say a 1.6/1.8 is "standard" and anything over a 2.4 uncommon. Plenty of 1.2s/1.4s around for students and the budget sensitive too, and even some 1.0s (current model Nissan Micra, Honda Civic)