Corporations will do whatever they need to maximize profit.

If people had higher standards, businesses would have to meet those standards in order to stay in business.

I don’t see how that can make vehicles any more affordable.

That's because you're not paying attention to the people who are making too much profit. They're having a fat payday because vehicles are expensive and employees are paid peanuts. There's plenty of room for vehicles to go down in price and employees to get paid more if the people making profit made less profit.

Keep in mind, they will still be making more money than you can ever hope to achieve.