That's a very good point.

Germany was always brilliant at mechanical engineering, their universities are decent in general, but very good at all forms of mechanical/chemical engineering.

US is mad keen on software and entrepreneurship and its top universities churn out software startup founders like nowhere else. It's just a pity software ain't what it was 10 years ago.

Perhaps the deep cadres of really well educated engineers, and thus available work force, is the determining factor here.