The first
Turbocharging arrived in mainstream American cars with the 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire — too early for the technology, killed by reliability problems. The 1978 Saab 99 Turbo revived the idea. The 1984 Buick Grand National GNX showed the muscle-car application.
The CAFE moment
The 2010 Ford EcoBoost 3.5 V6 in the F-150 marked the moment turbocharging won American mass market. Federal CAFE fuel economy standards forced manufacturers to extract V8 power from V6 displacements — turbos were the only practical answer.
The rollout
By 2015, turbo four-cylinders had replaced naturally-aspirated V6s as the default mainstream engine in the Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, Toyota Highlander, Honda CR-V. By 2020, even the Honda Accord and Civic Type R were turbo-only.
The point
Twenty-five years ago, "turbo" meant "performance variant" or "diesel". Today it means "default engine in your Camry". The technology won by being cheaper to develop than continuing to enlarge naturally-aspirated engines and easier to certify under EPA emissions rules. Sound and throttle response suffered; fuel economy and packaging won.