I think each team has a list of marketing consultants to determine whether a car will sell to the American market or not. It cost a ton of money to ramp them up for safety, weather, emission standards in NA. Consider, how rare it is to find automatic in most of Europe & Asia. Yet, in America many cars do not even offer manual transmissions - we are simply a different breed of society.

I travel overseas and see the different driving habits and minimalist lifestyles vs. our excessive abundance and can understand why a bunch of practical automobiles never make it to our shores.

However, in reverse many of our cars do not sell overseas - SUVs, Pick-Up trucks, etc. are specific to the American market. You will find a truck or two but not in the high numbers as the US.

US government regulations for vehicles are a lot stricter than they are in many other countries. It takes a lot of engineering work, and adds costs to a vehicle to make it meet these regulations.

Also many of the same cars are named differently based on region or country.

I don't know about the X Trail,but the Tiida may be the 2006 Sentra and the Zaroot and Fuga are merely concept cars at this point.So Fuga you LOL!

The Chinese are looking but you need to understand the N.A. market. It's crowded. Very crowded. You need to bring something to the table to sell here, whether it's superior styling, engineering or price. The first two ain't easy. Can you see GM or Toyota rolling over just because you think you're the best? I doubt it.
It becomes price. But that *never* lasts. Look at Lada, Yugo et al. They go for the price but the inevitable tradeoffs to get that low price move people away. They become jokes.
Only Hyundai and Kia have managed that trick and they took a while. Actually it took Hyundai buying Kia to make that work.
So these funky marques to you stay where they're best at, home.

i have often wondered why g.m. dosent bring the holden ute here, or ford dosent bring the falcon and falcon ute here. the ranchero and el camino seemed to sell good. i loved my el camino..

I guess it's "horses for courses". As previous postings suggest, local tastes count for a great deal. What appeals in one region may not in another. The days of wild variances in emissions and crash test requirements are largely gone (the exceptions maybe some third-world nations) so consumer demand (or lack of) dictates largely what is or isn't marketed in a particular region. JMO