Excessive regulations, make the product uneconomically expensive, to make a long life, durable version.
E.g. Rules insisting on having tyre pressure monitoring in cars, means each tyre sensor has a battery (4, one for each wheel), which can cost a small fortune, to get replaced, every e.g. 5 years.
Not necessarily. My Golf has TPMS which uses the existing ABS sensors to monitor for potential deflation. (I guess a wheel will start dragging more as it loses pressure.) The biggest pain is that these systems tend to require recalibration if you reinflate any tyres, or if you change the tyres, as they "learn" the behaviour of your tyres over time.
But this is an example of something that is essentially software only (as all modern cars have ABS) that can provide an additional safety benefit and need not reduce reliability.
You're right about the TPMS systems. I did not give the best of examples (some do use the ABS speed sensors, but I believe most, use battery powered wheel pressure sensors), there. They probably improve safety, which is a good thing.
But, what I really meant was. That the huge amount of electronics (and other stuff), which you have on modern cars, these days. A lot of which is due to regulations, such as emission controls, engine start/stop systems, etc.
Can mean that cars are uneconomical to keep for long periods of time.
Examples...
A long time ago e.g. 1960s/70s etc. Cars had simple metal bumpers, which eventually got covered by plastic (and later still, replaced by plastic bumpers).
So, if you had a minor car parking **BUMP**, at low speed. Either there was no damage to anything (the earlier plastic bumpers were like that), or it could be repaired (banged back in shape), or if necessary replaced. For a few hundred pounds (or less if you did it yourself).
These days, you have a tiny knock on your bumper, and it costs lots of money (thousands of pounds ?, or so I've heard), to get it replaced/repaired.
Because of all the parking sensors, driver aid sensors, fog/indicator lights, temperature sensor, daylight sensor, 'radar' vehicle distance sensor (for autonomous cruise control), accident impact absorbing structures (they deform, but then need replacing), and any other stuff, that I've forgotten. Such as cameras (they can be in other places).
ECUs (Electronic Control Units), use to be absent, or there were very few of them, on older cars. Maybe transistorised electronic ignition systems, on a 1970s (I could be wrong in the dating of this) car.
These days, almost everything, has (or connects to), some kind of ECU.
It makes, even small/cheap, cars, fairly interesting these days (i.e. well equipped). But can cost a small fortune, as the vehicle gets older and older, if you want to keep it for a long time.