Jim Farley called the Bronco too complex for anyone outside Ford to repair. Ford led every US automaker in recalls this year. Congress stripped the data access provisions from the REPAIR Act.
People want much simpler, less expensive and more reliable products (cars, appliances - you name it). The right to repair dovetails into the mix as well, and simplified products would undoubtedly also be easier to repair. This unmet demand is fueling the market for restored/refurbished older cars, trucks, appliances, etc. They have no computers, no software, no AI, no surveillance... just simple, reliable functionality.
Globalists do not want this to happen. Current companies refuse to deliver what people really want. The on-shoring of manufacturing back to the US is hopefully an opportunity for new companies to step in and meet the demand that is being ignored by the current (globalist) corporations.
Competition is really the only viable solution to these problems. Tesla is one example that shows it can be done successfully.
A really astute car company that correctly reads the room, would come out with a far LESS complicated vehicle. Possibly even vastly so. Why can't a very cool looking car be one with an owner's repair manual? How about an honest work truck that will keep on chuggin? Of course it would have it's boundaries since most people can't hoist their engines out or raise up their cars. But still. You know what I mean. My gosh, how I miss the days of simplicity in cars, relatively speaking. My wonderful old truck, how many times did we patch up the weaknesses as they popped up and keep the dear thing running. In fact, my daughter fixed some of it. And there was that time when a wad of foil and a rubber band fixed something broken inside a Subaru door. Yep.
My dad was a ford executive back in the day and every year growing up there were two new fords in the driveway. And my first car, a ford fairlane, and she was a treasure that I lost through no fault of my own. Obviously I wish ford would have a serious turn-around of wise management before it is too late, and might be already.
A really astute car company that correctly reads the room, would come out with a far LESS complicated vehicle. Possibly even vastly so. Why can't a very cool looking car be one with an owner's repair manual? How about an honest work truck that will keep on chuggin?
Make too many pieces of robust and reliable equipment that are easy to maintain and keep running. You eventually hit a cap where your sales plummet off the cliff. As there’s little incentive for people to turn around and buy a new vehicle when you can keep your old one running with a Wrench, paperclip and duck tape.
You don’t piles of money by making reliable and robust equipment anyone with two brain cells to rub together can keep running. You make money by making overly complex equipment that you can sell service packages, overpriced replacement parts, and assorted odds and ends for
This is why I drive old shitboxes. I can fix them myself and if I can't or it costs more than the vehicle is worth, I scrap it and get a different one.
Same company that fired a bunch of human engineers to use AI. Then rehired the human engineers.
I still am not confident any Mechanic or Hobbiest would have been able to tell the difference between stupid bullshit design decisions done by Ford AI and decisions made by Ford Engineers. When they’re elbows deep in an engine bay and cursing out whoever made whatever retarded design decision is causing them problems now.
Old cars will become priceless. Sales of 2026 and beyond will crater. Nobody wants a computer watching you drive, looking for "signs" of impairment or fatigue then shutting down the engine as you pull out in front of a semi.
The complexity (and therefore cost) of modern cars comes mainly from the lengths to which the manufacturer must go to satisfy government-imposed environmental requirements (mainly driven by the government of California). Impossible-to-realize mechanical accuracies are attained by rapid, sensor and computer-driven dynamic adjustments. If the onerous requirements were banished, more sane designs could prevail, at lower cost.
The owner bought the car---therefore, he also bought any data resident in the car. It should be available to anyone: dealership, mechanic, or forensic police investigator. If the maker wants to void the warranty if repaired by other than the dealership, that is an open option.
Jim Farley called the Bronco too complex for anyone outside Ford to repair. Ford led every US automaker in recalls this year. Congress stripped the data access provisions from the REPAIR Act.
SOURCE: https://x.com/HedgieMarkets/status/2072406636543766623 SOURCE (mirror): https://xcancel.com/HedgieMarkets/status/2072406636543766623
People want much simpler, less expensive and more reliable products (cars, appliances - you name it). The right to repair dovetails into the mix as well, and simplified products would undoubtedly also be easier to repair. This unmet demand is fueling the market for restored/refurbished older cars, trucks, appliances, etc. They have no computers, no software, no AI, no surveillance... just simple, reliable functionality.
Globalists do not want this to happen. Current companies refuse to deliver what people really want. The on-shoring of manufacturing back to the US is hopefully an opportunity for new companies to step in and meet the demand that is being ignored by the current (globalist) corporations.
Competition is really the only viable solution to these problems. Tesla is one example that shows it can be done successfully.
A really astute car company that correctly reads the room, would come out with a far LESS complicated vehicle. Possibly even vastly so. Why can't a very cool looking car be one with an owner's repair manual? How about an honest work truck that will keep on chuggin? Of course it would have it's boundaries since most people can't hoist their engines out or raise up their cars. But still. You know what I mean. My gosh, how I miss the days of simplicity in cars, relatively speaking. My wonderful old truck, how many times did we patch up the weaknesses as they popped up and keep the dear thing running. In fact, my daughter fixed some of it. And there was that time when a wad of foil and a rubber band fixed something broken inside a Subaru door. Yep. My dad was a ford executive back in the day and every year growing up there were two new fords in the driveway. And my first car, a ford fairlane, and she was a treasure that I lost through no fault of my own. Obviously I wish ford would have a serious turn-around of wise management before it is too late, and might be already.
Make too many pieces of robust and reliable equipment that are easy to maintain and keep running. You eventually hit a cap where your sales plummet off the cliff. As there’s little incentive for people to turn around and buy a new vehicle when you can keep your old one running with a Wrench, paperclip and duck tape.
You don’t piles of money by making reliable and robust equipment anyone with two brain cells to rub together can keep running. You make money by making overly complex equipment that you can sell service packages, overpriced replacement parts, and assorted odds and ends for
Strip out all of the useless junk and you could build a better car at a lesser price that's easier to repair and with better gas mileage.
Do this and people would beat a path to your showroom doors.
It appears they are so complex that they cannot be put together much less worked on.
This is why I drive old shitboxes. I can fix them myself and if I can't or it costs more than the vehicle is worth, I scrap it and get a different one.
Same company that fired a bunch of human engineers to use AI. Then rehired the human engineers.
I still am not confident any Mechanic or Hobbiest would have been able to tell the difference between stupid bullshit design decisions done by Ford AI and decisions made by Ford Engineers. When they’re elbows deep in an engine bay and cursing out whoever made whatever retarded design decision is causing them problems now.
Old cars will become priceless. Sales of 2026 and beyond will crater. Nobody wants a computer watching you drive, looking for "signs" of impairment or fatigue then shutting down the engine as you pull out in front of a semi.
The complexity (and therefore cost) of modern cars comes mainly from the lengths to which the manufacturer must go to satisfy government-imposed environmental requirements (mainly driven by the government of California). Impossible-to-realize mechanical accuracies are attained by rapid, sensor and computer-driven dynamic adjustments. If the onerous requirements were banished, more sane designs could prevail, at lower cost.
The owner bought the car---therefore, he also bought any data resident in the car. It should be available to anyone: dealership, mechanic, or forensic police investigator. If the maker wants to void the warranty if repaired by other than the dealership, that is an open option.