Manufacturers Consumers seem to do think fuel economy is more important.
Every market research study has fuel economy right near the top and power no where to be found. We who like power are the minuscule minority.
Yes, absolutes are completely telltale...
"Rate the following in terms of importance to you: Power, Fuel Economy, Safety, Value, Price, Styling, ... "
Of course, that ignores folks who would trade, say, 1 MPG for 30hp, or in the case of the Qashqai, save 1MPG and gain ~30hp. No sh!t the majority of the world would rather their Corolla to have 132hp and get a combined rating in the ~7L/100km range instead of a 507hp bi-turbo V8 that would consume more than double that and on "premium" fuel.
The Corolla XRS had the Camry engine back in the day. It offered only 26hp more, but drank about 2L/100km more. That tradeoff probably wasn't worth it and sales showed that (also, price was a big detail - it was more than $30k for a loaded Corolla XRS at the time MSRP!).
In the case of Subaru's or Nissan's 2.0L vs 2.5L engines, the applications have clearly shown that the smaller engine nets no better fuel economy even in smaller vehicles. Look at your own bread and butter: