You get what you pay for.
No, in many cases you don't, IMNSHO.
Pianos are manufactured products. If you are wise enough, and lucky enough to catch a less well known product on it ascension curve, you can many times buy more piano than you can with a mature brand...an example would be Estonia, or perhaps Vogel at the present time. Conversely, a manufacturer can sometimes take a well-known design and do a crappy job of building the piano...an example would be the Aeolian M&Hs.
The question posed is a very good one, considering the old equation of 1:3 in terms of build equality and cost in pianos (to get an equivalent build grand, you have to pay 3 times as much). I don't think the old equation applies to the burgeoning market of Asian pianos.
Look at the Chinese, and look very hard. Nordiska is doing some very interesting things in its entry level grands this year after NAMM. Look at the Indonesian products, especially some of the Samick stuff.