Having them inboard takes advantage of the free space in between the seats. If the levers were outboard, we'd be reading about people who have trouble squeezing their heavily jacketed or gloved arm/hand in between the door and the seat just to adjust their seatback angle while driving, for example. Since the car has a hatch and a tailgate for loading up the rear and the only time you're going to fold the passenger seat forward and flat for cargo is obviously when there aren't any passengers coming along, doing it from the driver's seat makes sense. Just open the driver's door and reach in to fold down the passenger seat.
Cheers,
Arch