You must be relatively young. Until just a few years ago, all cars had hand-crank windows, big steering wheels, foot powered brakes, and no air bags. Going back further in time, all cars had a steel dash. Imagine bonking your nose on that feature. (And it took 75 years for anybody to notice that steel was a poor choice for a dash.)
In the 60s, buyers gave Detroit a clear message: They wanted better engineering instead of flashier styling, they wanted one key to open the door and start the engine and a different key to open the trunk, they wanted keys that worked upside down as well as right side up, and they wanted electric wipers instead of those godawful vacuum wipers. American car makers ignored every one of those items and Japanese car makers catered to every one. Japanese brands ran away with the market, and American brands all eventually folded.
The only reason cars are as good as they are is that they were NOT "Made In America".