[throwaway8291]

Spot on. As a consumer of a newer generation: I do not care about 90% of the stuff that's in a modern car. I could not care less about the manufacturer. If it drives and is relatively safe and clean, cool. Best case: I do not even need to own a car.

The best counterexample for the R&D spree of western automotive can be found in Russia. The Lada Niva is car that is extremely useful and mostly unchanged in structure since inception. People can repair them with their own hands. I wish we had robust clean cars like the Niva in the west as well.