I wonder how far the US market will develop energy efficient top loaders - after a few false starts (the Neptune TL and the Calypso) there is at least one machine that seems to be working - the Oasis/Cabrio. Fisher and Paykel have released a similar model for their home market - reading the available info, it appears that in 'HE' mode, the F&P model uses the magic 10L per Kg required for EU AAA rating.
The cabrio concept seems to use about half the amount of water of a conventional TL machine, but I wonder if even this much is strictly necessary? Perhaps they will get even more efficient as time goes on...if they do, there is an off chance we will see them in Europe.
Serious subject drift now; I have service books for Hotpoint Top Loaders (1504 and 1509 series machines), and a quick glance at these would suggest that even if we hadn't had EU ratings, these machines would have eventually been dropped. Their construction was far more complex than Front Loader design (specifically the gearbox and brake) and I'm sure they had become economically unviable by the end of production....as ever Mammon would have ruled if Europe hadn't got there first - shame though as they were great washers....