I champion personal choice. The reason these cars are popular is because they are affordable, reliable and inexpensive to operate. They could emit piles of dog poo and still be popular for those reasons.
BTW, compact cars aren’t championed by the left (they stopped that over a decade ago). Overpriced “alternative” cars are their pick.
Alternative-fuel cars are “innerparty”. Compacts are still for the proles . . .
Libs still like compacts if they're shaped like toasters. What's that all about?