Afford doesn't mean the same thing as able to pay for in cash right now. Otherwise you'd say people can't afford houses, when you really mean people can't afford / are unable to get a mortgage that will cover their house.

Nobody forced these people to take our loans. The auto industry bends to trends, it doesn't create them.

The fact is, with or without marketing, people want nice things. And people have historically been willing to buy them on credit/loans. At least for our current capitalist society, that seems to be ab inherent feature.