Afluenza.
Reality. People want hassle-free cars that are fun to drive and have creature comforts. A person buying a car to have for 3 or 5 years doesn’t care if the transmission will last 175k miles.
If you want that to change, don’t blame the car makers. Convince the American car-buying public that they should insist on no-frills cars with manual transmissions so the guy that ends up with their car 10 years later has an easier time.
Good luck!