I think it's more a question of being willing to spend the money you need to stay at the cutting edge. Based purely on market logic, you can't build a TMSC because it would be too expensive and risky for modern-day capitalist investors to contemplate.
But if you have resources and don't care about making a profit in the market (like a government), you can do it eventually.
> It's not the sixties anymore, Intel has a massive R&D budget but they are not currently able to compete with TSMC. Technology is also quite advanced, I doubt it's just a few years of R&D.
I don't think Intel is "not able" to compete, but rather they took a costly mis-step. IIRC, TMSC took a more slow-and-steady approach, while Intel was too ambitious and its plan failed, so now it has to backtrack.
> In fact, it's so expensive, there are only a few factories on earth capable on producing those chips.
IIRC, they basically build a new factory each time the technology advances, so that's not as much of a limitation than it sounds.
That’s not true for cars. In fact, starting a new car company is probably cheaper than a few decades ago, since most part manufacturing has been outsourced.
Also most if not all the new car companies are building electric cars. My understanding is those are (in many ways) simpler to make than internal combustion engine cars.
Source: Chip Wars (2022)
If it isn't a matter of budget then it is a combination of organisation, regulation and focus. All of those things can change fairly quickly. Under ideal conditions, Intel could get to TSMC's leading process node in a few years.