> You make it sound as though this intended to be a benefit to the consumer or the end product. Having worked on and around cars, and being friends with people who do for a living, I am really unconvinced that the manufacturers do a lot of this for any consumer-friendly reason, rather than simply trying to squeeze a buck out of you.

The "consumer friendly" part is competing on price; they don't care about repair cost, in fact parts for repair is just recurring revenue on top on (till before pandemic) slim margins on selling the car