Pretty much, and American car companies could have built that stuff as well or better if they had wanted to but their mindset wasn't to make what people wanted, instead it was to make whatever they could have the highest profit margin on and then try and convince the American consumer that it was what they wanted.

Ford built plenty of 4cylinder engines that got fuel mileage and were reliable, it's just that sometimes they didn't worry about some of the other aspects like the Japanese and Germans did.

The fact that it took them so long to put independent rear suspension in their muscle cars is crazy. Mostly just a cost saving measure for them at the expense of the consumer.