Cost was also an issue,to keep the prices competitive in the UK/European markets apparently.
My UK gen4 was around the 16-17k mark in 1987,so wasnt a cheap car.But it came with power steering, you had the ABS option, 147BHP twin cam engine with separate oil cooler,disc brakes all round,electric mirrors (manual folding though) ,full electric tilt and slide metal sunroof,adjustable speed wipers,Aircon with Eco mode,central armrest with built in cup holders,alloy wheels,loads of stuff.
Wayne has a JDM car (convertible) of similar age, but his even has multi function steering wheel with factory fitted cruise control,JDM cars also had the electrically adjustable seats like we mentioned as well.All this stuff was in the late Eighties,I used to own a Ford Sierra which was an '87,it was a 1.8GL and that entitled me to a manually adjustable drivers mirror,a rev counter and a fag lighter.Not even allow wheels let alone PAS or any of the above.True it was a slightly cheaper car back then but was light years behind the Japanese mindset.And that was just for the UK Jap cars,let alone more generously equipped JDM models.I had what Cravo was talking about in my JDM ST 205 which was a 93/94 model,climate control,the lot.Good stuff