I'll agree that the coolest cars stay in Europe (and Japan). However, this is not the conspiracy you might think it is. An Imperial gallon (Europe) and the U.S. gallon are different with the Imperial gallon being the larger of the two.

This is why is appears that the cars sold in Europe get better gas mileage when in reality it's only that they measure using a larger gallon as the standard unit.

See here:

[link to wiki.answers.com]