At some point, they stopped being able to sell new model years by innovating on things that matter, and they had to just cram in a bunch of electronics, touch screens, and dubious safety features so they could show forward progress. I would love if (more) manufacturers just said "nope, what you're buying when you buy our new car is unused parts, and a fresh coat of paint—not new features. This is the same car we've been refining for the last 10 years. We got it basically right the first time, and there hasn't been a need to mess with it."

I suppose that the savings in manufacturing, part sourcing, and R&D costs would be non-trivial, but that you'd lose sales to people who actually do think that a slightly bigger touch screen or a yellow light that goes off when your passenger farts is important and will spend extra money on it. And that's one reason we're where we are today.