the reason for this is that the US consumer is more orientated to 'impulse purchases' than in Europe or Japan. The length of ownership in the US also tends to be shorter. This difference in approach to retailing has its effects both on the nature of the product (which is traditionally of a lower quality than, for example, in Europe) and to approaches to production. Production batches in the US are usually much larger and vehicles produced with higher equipment levels than in Europe.