This is actually true for American cars as well. I used "Ford Fusion" and "Ford F-150" in my example because one's a family sedan and one's a big pickup truck.

This is actually true for American cars as well. I used "Ford Fusion" and "Ford F-150" in my example because one's a family sedan and one's a big pickup truck. I bet the Fusion shares more than a few parts with the Focus. At the very least, each American manufacturer shares engines and transmissions across its various models. 80s and 90s American car interiors were sort of quietly hilarious. They shared common parts like crazy. You'd see the same gearshift, steering wheel, and so forth on various models. Maybe that's why it was a really ugly era in automotive interiors; their designs were constrained by all the common parts.