I think is mostly the traditional overall cost of fuel in the US. The only real advantage to a diesel car is fuel mileage. When fuel costs in Europe are high, looking for ways to lower cost per mile become paramount. Living with the smoke, fumes, noise and vibration are an acceptable trade off. What bears this high cost per mile out is the large number of 1 to 1.6 liter gasoline cars and propane conversions of all sizes in Europe .

In the US cars are disposable, especially in the 50's where cars changed every year. And, GM's Durant generated new products every year to entice consumers to buy a new one frequently. Few are going to buy an expensive diesel only to toss it later.

In the 40's, diesel farm tractors / construction equipment were rare, in the 50's the invention of a low cost single plunger distributor injection pump ( Stanadyne ) made diesels affordable and common.