^ For 340 MP and locked behind teching, they should be compared to elite units, not baseline inf.
All other elite infantry except Obersoldaten are doctrinal and generally cost more than PGs to call-in with some requiring upgrades afterwards and despite this, PGs have a good chance of beating them or at least bleeding them heavily so as long as you play to the strength of their StGs.
Yes, they cost quite a bit, but unlike Grenadiers, you don't need to dump 60 munitions into them to keep fighting other infantry and T2 is practically mandatory so you're going to have access to them anyways. The population and reinforce cost is also not that high considering how much longer PGs can stay in the fight vs small-arms and dish out a lot more damage at mid-short which is an area Ostheer has trouble at which make PGs invaluable for AI defense against flanking units or just head-long charges.
At the same time, they're well-designed in the fact you can't just throw them at the enemy and have to shift from cover to cover to make the best use. You close/mid-range with rifle, weapon crews or LMG infantry, long-mid vs SMGs and now use super bundle grenades to nuke a target of your choosing.