You are right about the Germans and the Japanese - and I get your robot point as well. What I would like to see us Indians do is to get back the notions that we once had, of craftsmanship, even on things hand worked. That comes from taking pride in the work you do, and satisfaction in a job well done, however small it may be. Not something that a robot would have?!
The casting quality is a problem because of dirty foundries - and the typical purchase manager function of going and buying the cheapest by weight casting, as long as it meets the dimensional spec.
Things are changing though on that front everywhere as better foundries are built. Again, it is not an engineering problem, but one of attitudes, like everywhere else as you say. If people did their jobs as if they were their hobbies, we would get fine products, regardless of the technology used to make them. Handworked, the product would be interesting too, as the RE is.
Ironically, the unfinished aspect of the RE is what gives every owner the chance to make his bike uniquely his own. Starting with the running in - how well you do it, decides the quality of the bike you finally get. Gets you a lot more involved in it - but there are many who cannot be bothered to do that, who do not buy them for just that reason.
I wonder if many of us who are in to REs, and who are also in to high end audio, prefer listening to music on turntables and LPs, instead of the cookie cutter mass market CD players and now, ipods??!!