Quality of assembly has a lot to do with how well the individuals are trained. Country doesn't matter. Japanese are more rigid in their training and it's considered rude to question your superior. This sometimes leads to workers that do the things they are told/shown, w/o really understanding why. That can cause problems. I can tell great stories about Mazda in regards to that. I've dealt with a lot of Japanese manufacturing consultants.
FWIW, I worked in manufacturing for 30 years. Despite being a machinist, I've done a lot of assembly work too and seen many different environments. Errors in technique happen for a variety of reasons. Managers complaining that employees are "wasting" materials like grease, w/o really understanding how much is necessary is not unheard of.
I've been bitched at for using a product 'excessively' that cost $5 a can, while the company turns around and blows $30k on painting a path on the concrete floor, only to move equipment 3 months later to re-form working cells. Making the painted walking paths useless, as equipment covered them or blocked them with the new equipment cell designs. Save a penny, throw thousands of dollars away for something useless. Corporate mentality.
I'm sharing what I've personally seen. I'd consider your 70k bearings that were never re-greased to have been neglected. But we'll never know how they would have felt to you if you had re-greased them. Only that they didn't seize or feel bad to you.
The point of this thread is to try and help the individual having the issue. One of the symptoms of loose steering head bearings is head shake. Thus my original comments. It's just something to check and hopefully rule out, or correct if they are loose. Re-torquing them per the FSM isn't going to hurt a thing.