My own guess is that the economy cars look alike because of technology. I moved to Ireland in 1992, before the economy boomed, and there was (to me anyway) a startling homogeneity among the mostly small, cheap cars. All small and boxy. In the last decade, the Irish economy has boomed, hugely, and there are many more bigger, more expensive cars on the market, and there are bigger differences among them. They are all, however, less boxy, even the traditionally boxy Mercedes and Volvos.
Bill Sjostrom
