A comment that I saw on another message board:
I'm American but spend about half my time in France.
Ford makes an entry level model called "Ka", which costs around 10,000 euros, approx. $11,500 and gets 45/75 MPG.
Other American and European auto manufacturers sell similar entry level cars. Renault offers an all-electric 4 door sedan for around 23,000 euros, + 39 euros monthly "rent" for the battery, which they will replace when it can no longer carry more than a 75% charge. I believe the car has a range of around 200 miles.
For low priced, high fuel efficiency cars and electric cars, the choices in Europe are much better than the USA. And some of the best choices are made by American manufacturers!