That's because no one makes a sub $35k car anymore. They have pushed all options to luxury and are not meeting the demand of the market, so you buy what you can get.
I would argue the location of its manufacture is probably the most significant factor, as it contributes the most towards what I think of people commonly think of as buying “American”—things like supporting the assembly line workers, and as much as possible keeping the economic activities surrounding its production domestic. To that end, my BMW 3-series was built in South Carolina, and would then rank as an American car. But that notion is pretty absurd to my sensibilities, so maybe it’s more of a cultural idea? So American cars could be made anywhere, as long as they’re huge, overpowered, and are a Ford F-150. By that logic, I’d call a Jeep Wrangler American, but probably not the Wagoneer (see: Range Rover), and certainly not the Compass (see: pre-Genesis Hyundai). This definition seems far too ambiguous and subjective.
Ultimately, I think globalization has effectively ended the whole idea of nationalistic car manufacturing. Like a lot of now-vestigial cultural institutions, the modern world economy has consumed these old modes of thought, and left them to be wielded as marketing by advertising agencies who eagerly leverage our nostalgia and cultural identities to craft the illusion that these brands still represent the American Way®.
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