I think that's the manufacturer's thought too, if it's a car replacement with much lower upkeep costs, they should be allowed to charge as much as a cheap car.
No one is saying it's not. Your statement's implication is that because follow up costs are so low that the upfront is negligable, but that's fallacious as it's still significant and potentially out of reach for someone that wasn't planning on spending as much as a car upfront.