Americans love hot hatches. In fact, hot hatches were the last models to of hatches to be sold in the USA. The Fiesta ST lived on longer than the Fiesta, as did the Focus ST/RS. It's not just Ford either, VW only sells the GTI and Golf R in the USA, not the base Golf.
But the compact crossover has displaced the normal hatchback in the USA. So while Europe gets the Focus hatch, the USA gets the Ecosport. This isn't really an America-only trend, but it's happening all over the world. One would think that Toyota's new Corolla Cross crossover would be a purely American offering, but it's actually offered in SE Asia and South American markets.
There's not really a good reason to go with a hatchback over the crossover variant, unless you're going for performance. So companies are introducing crossover versions of their hatchbacks, which slowly cannibalize sales of the original hatch, which gets killed off.
But the compact crossover has displaced the normal hatchback in the USA. So while Europe gets the Focus hatch, the USA gets the Ecosport. This isn't really an America-only trend, but it's happening all over the world. One would think that Toyota's new Corolla Cross crossover would be a purely American offering, but it's actually offered in SE Asia and South American markets.
There's not really a good reason to go with a hatchback over the crossover variant, unless you're going for performance. So companies are introducing crossover versions of their hatchbacks, which slowly cannibalize sales of the original hatch, which gets killed off.