It's not necessarily the low power pumps that are the problem, it's more the saturation of gimmicks and marketing towards things that don't make a big difference, and less attention to the details that matter. If a manufacturer can design a motor and pump that outputs the power needed but only uses the energy in an hour that a previous motor used in a minute, I'd be all over it.
It seems that here lately, brands like Whirlpool have improved their current machines to the point that they would actually be desirable. As far as I know, the motors used in the first generation of the "resource saver" design were ~100W, give or take. Upon looking at parts diagrams for the updated models now, the motor is 55W, but is a little more powerful with a modified impeller and chamber. They're apparently better at backwashing the filter to drain out the collected particles, as the manual now states to clean it every few months if you don't prerinse, rather than the previous "after every load" instructions. This is just from what I've heard and read though, so I may be wrong. End point, they have been doing better, it's just taken time to work out the kinks.
Remember when people hated the Voyager design when it first launched?