1. I suspect that Americans are much more impulsive. Most people I know aren't going to wait weeks or months for a car built to order, when they can have someth

1. I suspect that Americans are much more impulsive. Most people I know aren't going to wait weeks or months for a car built to order, when they can have something 80% right and drive home today. 2. I also suspect that American car dealers developed in an environment where neither space nor capital was constrained, and so it was perfectly ok to hold 100+ cars in inventory at a time at every dealership. Factories love it too, because once the car goes to the dealership, it's off the manufacturer's books -- the dealer owns it. 3. Synergistically with 1 and 2, American car salesmen are strongly incentivized to sell you something off their lot, or at worst to sell you a car that they can borrow from the dealer one town over.