Prince AJ,...
I still need a road trip to the Lab to audition
the Ketron SD9....will be in touch.

NOT TO TAKE THIS THREAD SOUTH, BUT:
AJ, I was somewhat confused by your post ... Like you, I think many people might think that a vehicle made and sold in the US should cost less than a vehicle made in Japan and sold in the US, if only due to the transportation/shipping costs. However, one might argue that the production (labor) costs in Japan are lower, therefore somewhat negating - or balancing out - the shipping costs.
Then the sales rep points out that the US product is inferior in make because of the lack of high quality control standards in this country, and the 'cutting of costs' by US manufacturers. So is he saying that, because of no shipping cost and quality cutting measures, the US manufacturers are making more money per vehicle than the Japanese manufacturers?
Unless that is the case, his pointing out the 'shoddy' work by US manufacturers certainly does not support his argument that the price of both vehicles should be the same - if anything, the US model should cost less for several reasons.

I guess the purpose of your comparison is more to say that KBs made in Japan are probably of better quality than those made elsewhere ...

Yep - I was zooming in on the quality. As for price, that's a different department. Also note that manufacturers may have lower profit margines in certain countries due to larger sales too....