Thought it isn't quite as bad as stated - manufactures need their cars to have value as used cars for a while because very few people could afford to pay $70k for a new car without trading in something else that is still work $35k. And those people buying the $35k car in turn expect it to hold value for a while (either so they can trade it in for $15k in 5 years, or they expect to keep running for 10 years).
Which is to say if they made cars that only lasted 3 years they could only charge $35k for the high end ones, and a lot of people would be looking to buy a base model without the optional heater. Or worse for them, if cars become too unaffordable people will start demanding good public transit.
