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It's notoriously difficult to make certain engines a certain size in certain configurations. When making small engines nowadays, manufacturers need to include a whole lot of stuff in the cylinder head. Space for variable valve systems, extra spark plugs and direct injection injectors. By lopping off a cylinder and making the other cylinders bigger, you get more combustion chamber real estate to position everything.
And then there's the whole pumping losses thing. Less moving parts makes for less friction. Of course, you could power small cars with one liter one cylinder motors, but the resulting vibration and harmonic balance issues would make them very crappy motors... not to mention the difficulty of turbocharging such a beast.
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