There seems to be a pattern…
There seems to be a pattern here. Small displacement, turbocharged, GDI engines with thin, low-friction piston rings, paired with CVTs or 6-10 gear transmissions are the powertrains de jure. All hastily engineered to meet fleet emission and fuel economy regulations.
Add to this this overly-complicated instrumentation and unnecessary bling coupled by OEM parts availability issues, the consumer, faced with 4-figure repair bills, are scrapping new-ish cars at alarming rates.
The chickens are coming home to roost and the automakers aren't pushing back much -- the increased volume offsets their narrowing margins. It looks like the industry is well into another malaise era that will dwarf the 70s-80s.