Plus, in general, German cars tend to have a much tighter turning radius than, say, American cars. Some of the places that these cars need to be able to maneuver through in the narrow streets in the old towns of Germany are unbelievable.
The lack of CV joints in the front definitely is a part of it, however - my '67 Camaro has an unbelievably tight turning radius for the type of car that it is (it's actually not much wider than my '87 BMW's radius).