[gdb069]

I don't think you can generalize as far as German vs Japanese Engineering or even particular Brand Engineering. There are a lot of decisions as to pricing a product for the target market and those decisions dictate what Engineering can do/spend. Another factor greatly affecting reliability is the extent to which the vehicle uses recent technology. A lot of issues are now electronics based because most consumers want all the features. One more factor is in the quantity of the model sold. For instance, Honda has sold over 20 million Honda Civics and in the US in 2017 alone Honda sold 317,000 Civics. That provides the company with a lot of feedback as to what can be improved based on the target market and price point.