It's a cost-saving measure to use the same molds for dashboards sold both in the US and in Europe. They can mold the same dash, use them in all of the vehicles, and just tilt the inlaid speedometer section towards the driver, no matter which side of the car they sit at, and save some coin in the process.
Ah...makes sense. Still looks stupid and the cars are still over-priced for what they are. Like the Toyota Matrix and the Pontiac Vibe... same car, the Vibe actually looks better but there is a price difference because of the Toyota name.
