On the outside. Based on my experiences with Japanese vs American cars I'd not be surprised if they are bigger on the inside. :-)
Seriously, when I bought a Civic in 1989, I looked at both the smaller Japanese cars (Civic, Sentra, Corolla) and bigger American cars. I'm tall and big and had trouble fitting comfortably in the American cars. No problem in the Japanese cars.
Next time I was car shopping, sometime around 1999, I decided to take a look at SUVs which had become pretty popular by then. Again I tried the American ones. They were very large--and very cramped inside. Then I tried a Honda CR-V. It was way smaller than the American SUVs but just as with the Civic there was plenty of room.
It struck me as absurd. How the heck are car companies of Japan, a country whose people average over 2" (5 cm) shorter than Americans and weigh about 2/3 what Americans weigh, so much better than American car companies at making cars that can fit tall fat Americans?
Seriously, when I bought a Civic in 1989, I looked at both the smaller Japanese cars (Civic, Sentra, Corolla) and bigger American cars. I'm tall and big and had trouble fitting comfortably in the American cars. No problem in the Japanese cars.
Next time I was car shopping, sometime around 1999, I decided to take a look at SUVs which had become pretty popular by then. Again I tried the American ones. They were very large--and very cramped inside. Then I tried a Honda CR-V. It was way smaller than the American SUVs but just as with the Civic there was plenty of room.
It struck me as absurd. How the heck are car companies of Japan, a country whose people average over 2" (5 cm) shorter than Americans and weigh about 2/3 what Americans weigh, so much better than American car companies at making cars that can fit tall fat Americans?