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As Frank Lee said... it's all about the tax structure.
The US has less gas taxes, which means it hurts less to fuel up and run big cars. On top of that, CAFE regulations and gas guzzler taxes penalize cars based on the footprint system more than trucks. Want to avoid the guzzler tax? Just shove that motor in a truck.
Then you have the Chicken Tax (which is hurting Ford's ability to bring in the Transit, and has helped marginalize the compact/midsized global pick-up class in the US), diesel emissions regulations that are out of sync with EURO regulations (and the rest of the world) and an entire society built around big roads, cheap gas and long commutes, and you have a country where bigger and faster are always better.
The American transport grid is the big exception to the rule, where unadjusted size- and displacement-based taxation and higher gas taxes have gotten people used to paying more money for smaller cars with smaller motors. The paying more part means car companies can profit off of small cars outside the US, something which they have a hard time doing inside the country...
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