I saw that one too. An actual, real conspiracy!
Occasionally I read about the opposite: the "fat years" or "bubble years" for Honda and Toyota, where they were competing to equate their brands as top quality carmakers by over-engineering everything to last forever.
Maybe the early to mid-2000's?
And now they've dialed it way back and are coasting on their reputations.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 62.4 mpg (US) ... 26.5 km/L ... 3.8 L/100 km ... 74.9 mpg (Imp)