#Commercial Car Sales
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accesscommercials · 2 months ago
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Upgrade Your Fleet with Affordable Commercial Car Sales from Access Commercials
Do you want to increase the size or quality of your fleet? For companies of all sizes, Access Commercials provides the finest solutions for commercial car sales. We provide an array of vehicles to cater to any business, ranging from small vans for delivery in cities to larger trucks for heavy-duty transportation. You may make the most of your financial situation and purchase dependable and well-performing cars by taking advantage of our affordable prices and financing alternatives. Take advantage of our amazing prices on commercial vehicles by visiting Access Commercials right now. For more details visit on: https://posts.gle/mYdgWn
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saltynutgarden · 2 months ago
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flmboyz · 7 months ago
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Clean 1975 Ford Maverick
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quirkle2 · 2 months ago
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yaknow . ads obviously work, otherwise companies wouldn't put them everywhere, but i wanna know who in the fresh hell is falling for them. i don't think an ad, save for like,,, trailers for movies/games, has Ever worked on me. most of the time when i'm doing something and an ad interrupts me in any way i make a mental note to Not buy that product in the future outta spite.who is out here watching a febreze commercial and going Damn ur right guess im a febreze truther now
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firstautopartsplus · 2 months ago
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Ford Transit Spare Parts Australia | First Auto Parts Plus
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If you looking for Ford Transit Spare Parts Australia then First Auto Parts Plus is the largest and most respected wreckers in Australia and New Zealand. Known for its class-leading power and capacity, the Ford Transit van and cab chassis range has sold very well in Australia.
Resource URL: https://firstautoparts.com.au/ford-transit-my-2007-to-2014/
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bernardarnault54 · 2 months ago
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classifiedwebsite · 5 months ago
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Top Guidelines Of Online Marketplace
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partsgallary · 6 months ago
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Revamp Your Ride: Genuine KIA & Hyundai Spare Parts Await at Parts Gallery!
Hey, car enthusiasts! Looking to give your ride a makeover? 🚗💨 Dive into the world of authentic spare parts and accessories for KIA and Hyundai vehicles at Parts Gallery! Whether you're in need of essential replacements or aiming to elevate your vehicle's performance and style, we've got just what you need. Our extensive inventory features top-quality parts sourced directly from trusted manufacturers, ensuring optimal fit and performance for your beloved wheels. Let's kickstart your automotive journey with Parts Gallery—where quality meets passion!
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puppyandmau · 6 months ago
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Authorized Distributor of Commercial and Passenger Vehicles in Nairobi
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Simba Corp Aspire Center in Nairobi is your trusted source for commercial and passenger vehicles. As an authorized distributor, we offer a wide range of vehicles and provide flexible financing options to meet your needs. Drive away in your dream vehicle today with Simba Corp.
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stwinsauto · 10 months ago
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Used Car Wreckers Sydney
STwins, located in the heart of Sydney, is a leading automotive company specializing in car wrecking. Renowned as one of the top car wreckers in Sydney, we offer an extensive range of used car parts, providing an sophisticated solution to car repairs. Our wrecking yard in Sydney is a treasure trove for auto enthusiasts, offering a vast selection of auto parts. As both auto and used car wreckers, our expertise ensures quality and reliability. Whether you're seeking used car wreckers Sydney services or auto parts in Sydney, STwins is your go-to destination.
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accesscommercials · 2 months ago
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Drive Your Business Forward with Premium Commercial Car Sales : Access Commercial
The right commercial vehicles can transform your business operations, driving efficiency, and delivering exceptional value. Our extensive selection of premium commercial vehicles includes everything from light-duty vans to heavy-duty trucks, perfect for businesses in any industry. Each vehicle is carefully selected for its performance, durability, and cost-efficiency, ensuring that you get the best value for your investment. We also offer competitive financing options and flexible purchase plans, making it easier for you to get the vehicles you need without straining your budget. For more information visit on :- https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZN7eEbgPnoorRgMF8
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autonjstate · 11 months ago
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Discover Top-notch Wheels at Car Dealerships in Jersey City
Explore the finest selection of car dealerships in jersey city. From sleek sedans to powerful SUVs, find the perfect ride that suits your style and needs. Trustworthy dealerships with a reputation for quality service and transparent transactions await you. Your dream car is just a visit away.
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alliedmoto · 11 months ago
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Trusted Japanese Car Trading Experts
Being a veteran in the automobile industry, we have reliable sources to procure all types of Japanese vehicles like Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, Suzuki, etc., as per the customer requirements and customize it with additional features. Call us at +971 4 608 4666 for more details.
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firstautopartsplus · 2 months ago
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Genuine Ford Parts Victoria Australia | First Auto Parts Plus
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if you are looking for Genuine Ford Parts Victoria Australia First Auto Parts Plus is one of the largest and most trusted wreckers in Australia. We stock an extensive range of high quality spare parts for many popular Ford vehicles, including the Ford Ranger, Ford Transit, Ford Everest, Ford Territory, Ford Falcon, Ford Mustang and more.We buy in only the best quality Ford wrecks, which is why we’re so confident in our Ford parts that they come with a fuss-free, six-month warranty. As a leading automotive wrecker we’re hugely experienced in shipping used and genuine new Ford parts to every corner of Australia and New Zealand, and we aim to dispatch your parts within 24 hours of receiving payment for your order.
Resource URL: https://firstautoparts.com.au/
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bishtmeenakshi · 1 year ago
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Future Outlook of KSA Automotive Industry: Ken Research
KSA Automotive Industry: Overview & Ecosystem
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, currently enjoys a strategic position in terms of geography & development of industries with growing economy & improving trade participation in the world. Their automotive industry provides opportunity of high growth with the absence of domestic manufacturing & core dependence on imports for domestic vehicle needs. However, rapid digitization along with various government incentives are set to change the gears of development in the coming years.
KSA is looking forward to develop domestic manufacturing & exporting capabilities for South Africa & other African & gulf nations with stronger tax & driving policies, development of industrial hubs, efficient bilateral relationships & allies, technological competence & its enhancement.
Saudi Arabia Imports & Sales Industry
KSA Automotive industry imports& export volume for automotive vehicles is majorly driven by International OEMS from countries like USA, Japan, Korea, Germany, China & India. The overall ecosystem of KSA automotive industry includes global auto manufacturers like Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai & more, along with many sports & luxury car manufacturers. They are facilitated by local dealers & agents as there is a lack of domestic assembling & major vehicle needs are currently fulfilled via imports.
Largest importing country in terms of vehicles is Japan, home to Toyota, which amounts to the biggest share of vehicle sales in KSA. USA, Korea & china along with Germany, Thailand & India are the other major countries who imports vehicles in KSA. The development of various ports on east & west coast provides ease of importing & connected road network with other gulf countries, helps in providing cross country movements as well Sales & distributing efforts are undertaken by local trading partners in KSA like Abdul Latif Jameel (Toyota), Mohammad Yusuf Naghi (Hyundai) & more, who utilizes their local networks to provide the effeciency & optimization in sales.
Marker segmentation of KSA automotive industry explains the geographical consistency across the country. It was witnessed that Central, Eastern and western region of KSA dominate the market with more than 80% share of sales and are majorly driven by cities like Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina/Makkah.
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To learn more about this report Download A Free Sample Report
KSA Automotive Aftermarket Spare Parts & Service Industry
KSA Automotive spare parts industry is largely dominated by small retailers selling parts across the country. It was witnessed that there are ~7,000 small retailers in the country with majority of them situated around Jeddah, Dammam & Makkah/Medina.
In terms of car workshops, organized players cater to tier 1 & 2 cities, while other areas are dominated by local & unorganized crash repair & other service providers Value chain & busieness models further provides analysis of various entities available in the market & defines their roles, sourcing habits, retail & dealership networks along with revenue sharing & earning models/pathways & specifies margins at various intervals along with growth potential & strategic ways of diversifying into new business streams.
The Market size of KSA Spare Parts market grew by a CAGR of ~11% for 2014-2019, helping the market grow ~1.7X. It was also witnessed that imports made up more than 50% of the market in terms of volume. With increased ownership period and advanced used to new car ration of 2:1, total car parc in KSA is set to grow a north of 12 mn by the end of 2021.
KSA government is also making genuine efforts to kick start the domestic manufacturing process to include further entities in the ecosystem and sustain the current manufacturers as well to provide them various incentives to grow operations Import & Export analysis of the automotive industry in KSA gives a higher-level idea regarding the annual throughputs at all the major ports, identifies the major commercial hubs & areas of importance while indulging in to international trade.
Key Segments Covered:
KSA Imports & Sales Industry (Distributors & Dealerships)
Import & Export Analysis
Competition Analysis of Major OEM Brands
Future Trends & Developments & Growth Factors
KSA Automotive Aftermarket Spare Parts & Service Industry
Spare parts Industry
Aftermarket Service Industry
Competition Analysis of Major Players via Cross Comparisons & Heat Maps
Visit This Link: - Request For Custom Report
KSA Automotive Leasing & Rental Industry
KSA Rental Industry (Market Size, Competition & Segmentation)
KSA Leasing Industry (Market Size, Competition & Segmentation)
Impact of Covid-19 on KSA Automotive Industry
Impact of Covid 19 on KSA Automotive Industry
Mobility Industry looks forward to Utilize Digital Platforms
Post Covid KSA Automotive Industry Outlook
Technology Adoption & Usage Trends in KSA Automotive Industry
Overview of Industry
KSA Automotive Technology Trends, Adoption & Recommendations
Key Target Audience
KSA Car Dealerships
KSA Automotive Industry
KSA Automotive Workshops
KSA Spare Parts Retailers
KSA Automotive Logistic Service Providers
KSA Car Rental Players
KSA Car Leasing Players
KSA ERP Service Providers
KSA Technology Consultants
KSA Foreign Relation Ministry
KSA Customs Department
KSA Ports Authority
KSA Automotive Industry
KSA Imports & Export Authority
KSA Hardware Technology Manufacturers
KSA Software Technology Manufacturers
KSA Cloud Storage Providing Enterprises
KSA Public Institutions
Request Free 30 Minutes Analyst Call
Time Period Captured in the Report:
Historical Period: 2014-2019
Forecast Period: 2019-2025
Companies Mentioned:
Importers/Car Dealership
Abdul Latif Jameel Motors
Almajdouie Automotive
Wallan Trading Co.
Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors
Haji Husain Alireza & Co.
(Mazda, MAN, Aston Martin)
Nissan Petromin
Manahil International
Aljomaih Automotive Company
Universal Motors Agencies
Kia Al Jabr
Al Yemni Motors
Alissa Universal Motors Co.
Bakhashab Brothers Co.
Alesayi Motor Company
Al Jazirah Vehicles Agency
Juffali Automotive Company
Spare Part Retailers/Wholesalers
Balubaid
Barik International
Babatin Auto Parts
Speero
Juffali Auto Parts Company (JAPCO)
Samaco
M S Almeshri & Bros Co.
AL-OLIAH Auto Spare Parts
Delmon Group of Companies
SNAM
Ubuy
Munif Al Nahdi Group (Mize)
Odiggo
Accidom
Bawazeer Auto Parts
Bin sahib
AHQ Parts
Danya Auto Parts
Rezayat Automotive
Saudi Parts Center Company (Al Khorayef Group)
Aftermarket Service Providers
Branded Workshops
AutoFix
SAC Motor
Castrol
BEC (Best Engine Centre)
Sheikh Center (SKBMW)
Abu Jihad Car Maintenance Center
Ac Delco Service Centres
Tyre Plus
3M Authorized Centre
Mize
AdinLub
Car Spa
Car Hub
Ezhalha
Petromin Express
Auto Hub
Exxon Mobil
Autoworld
Castrol Branded Workshops
Shell Fastlube
Fuchs One
NAFT
Ziebart
Grease Monkey
Quick Car Service
Morni
Agency Repair
Samaco
United Motors Express Service Lane
Al Jazeera
Renault
Kia Motors
Fast Auto Technic
Mohammed Yousaf Naghi Motors
Porsche
Land Rover
Quick lane
Nissan Petromin
Haji Husain Alireza & Co.
Universal Motors Agencies
Aljomaih Automotive Company Ltd.
Alesayi Motors
Al Yemni Motors
Alissa Universal Motors Co.
Bakhashab Brothers Co
Al Juffali & Brothers Automotive Ltd.
Wallan Hyundai
Un-Organized/ Independent Players
Middle East Auto Services
Carzzone
German Centre
Cartech
Alod Haib
Al-Aruba Sinnaiyah
Saudi Chinese Vehicle Repair
Al Shamel Car Maintenance Center
Al Nafie Car Maintenance Workshop
Alsajow Center for Car Maintenance
Red Car
Saudi Egyptian Center for Car Maintenance
SRT 8
Al Bayan Car Maintenance
Mujahid Garage
1 Check Car Services (One Examination Workshop)
Saudi radiators
Global Auto Maintenance
Mohammed Al- Tkhais Abu Rakan
Anwar Al Mamlaka Center
Quick Cars Service
Best Corner Car Maintenance
American Diamond Specialist Center
Cars electricity and air conditioning
Badr Sentop workshop BST
Grace Monkey (International Company)
Super Service Auto Center
XEOEX
German Centre
AutoGard
Rental & Leasing Industry
Rental Players
Budget rent a car
Theeb rent a car
Al Wefaq rent a car
Autoworld rent a car
Key rent a car
Avis rent a car
Hanco rent a car
Samara rent a car
Hertz rent a car
Autorent a car
Leasing Players
Ford Aljazirah
Budget Rent a Car
Universal Motors
Al Jomaih
Best rent a car
Al Tayyar rent a car
Enterprise rent a car
Hanco rent a car
Theeb rent a car
Shary rent a car
ERP & CRM Providing Technical Consultants
Britehouse
Techedge
Saudi Business Machine
Tyconz
Accenture
Tata Consultancy Services
Tech Mahindra
HCL
Unitrans
NTT Data
Deloitte
CDK Connect
Seidor
Wipro
Key Topics Covered in the Report:
Saudi Arabia Automotive Industry Overview
Saudi Arabia Imports & Sales Industry (Distributors & Dealerships)
Automotive Imports & Sales Industry Ecosystem, KSA
Value Chain Analysis of KSA Automotive Imports & Sales
Annual Automotive Imports Traffic for Major KSA Ports
Analysis of Imported Goods & Major Countries Importing in KSA
Value & Volume of Vehicles Imported, KSA
Segmentation of Imports on the basis of Vehicle Type, KSA
Automotive Vehicle Manufacturing Clusters Analysis, KSA
New Motor Vehicle Sales, KSA
Market Segmentation of Automotive Sales on the basis of Region, KSA
Demographics of KSA Citizens Supporting Automotive Industry, (2019)
Segmentation of Vehicle Sales on the basis of Brands & Vehicle Type, KSA
Market share of International OEMs in New Vehicle Sales, KSA (2019)
Competition Analysis of Automotive Imports & Sales Industry, KSA (2019)
Profiles of Major Dealerships & Distributors
Business Model & Revenue Stream of Importers/Distributors/Dealerships
Trends & Developments in Automotive Vehicle Industry
Future of Imports & Sales
KSA Automotive Aftermarket Spare Parts & Service Industry
KSA Aftermarket Industry Ecosystem
Aftermarket Spare Parts Industry
KSA Aftermarket Service Industry
Future Trends of Aftermarket Spare Parts & Service Industry
KSA Automotive Leasing & Rental Industry
Macroeconomic Overview of the Rental & Leasing Industry
KSA Automotive Leasing (Long Term) Industry
KSA Rental Industry
Future of Leasing & Rental Industry
For more information on the research report, refer to below link:
KSA Automotive Industry
Related Reports By Ken Research: -
Saudi Arabia Automotive & Spare Parts Logistics Market Outlook to 2025
Saudi Arabia Car Rental and Leasing Market Outlook to 2023
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mostlysignssomeportents · 9 months ago
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Your car spies on you and rats you out to insurance companies
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I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW (Mar 13) in SAN FRANCISCO with ROBIN SLOAN, then Toronto, NYC, Anaheim, and more!
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Another characteristically brilliant Kashmir Hill story for The New York Times reveals another characteristically terrible fact about modern life: your car secretly records fine-grained telemetry about your driving and sells it to data-brokers, who sell it to insurers, who use it as a pretext to gouge you on premiums:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html
Almost every car manufacturer does this: Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Chrysler, etc etc:
https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2020/09/09/ford-state-farm-ford-metromile-honda-verisk-among-insurer-oem-telematics-connections/
This is true whether you own or lease the car, and it's separate from the "black box" your insurer might have offered to you in exchange for a discount on your premiums. In other words, even if you say no to the insurer's carrot – a surveillance-based discount – they've got a stick in reserve: buying your nonconsensually harvested data on the open market.
I've always hated that saying, "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product," the reason being that it posits decent treatment as a customer reward program, like the little ramekin warm nuts first class passengers get before takeoff. Companies don't treat you well when you pay them. Companies treat you well when they fear the consequences of treating you badly.
Take Apple. The company offers Ios users a one-tap opt-out from commercial surveillance, and more than 96% of users opted out. Presumably, the other 4% were either confused or on Facebook's payroll. Apple – and its army of cultists – insist that this proves that our world's woes can be traced to cheapskate "consumers" who expected to get something for nothing by using advertising-supported products.
But here's the kicker: right after Apple blocked all its rivals from spying on its customers, it began secretly spying on those customers! Apple has a rival surveillance ad network, and even if you opt out of commercial surveillance on your Iphone, Apple still secretly spies on you and uses the data to target you for ads:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar
Even if you're paying for the product, you're still the product – provided the company can get away with treating you as the product. Apple can absolutely get away with treating you as the product, because it lacks the historical constraints that prevented Apple – and other companies – from treating you as the product.
As I described in my McLuhan lecture on enshittification, tech firms can be constrained by four forces:
I. Competition
II. Regulation
III. Self-help
IV. Labor
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel
When companies have real competitors – when a sector is composed of dozens or hundreds of roughly evenly matched firms – they have to worry that a maltreated customer might move to a rival. 40 years of antitrust neglect means that corporations were able to buy their way to dominance with predatory mergers and pricing, producing today's inbred, Habsburg capitalism. Apple and Google are a mobile duopoly, Google is a search monopoly, etc. It's not just tech! Every sector looks like this:
https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers
Eliminating competition doesn't just deprive customers of alternatives, it also empowers corporations. Liberated from "wasteful competition," companies in concentrated industries can extract massive profits. Think of how both Apple and Google have "competitively" arrived at the same 30% app tax on app sales and transactions, a rate that's more than 1,000% higher than the transaction fees extracted by the (bloated, price-gouging) credit-card sector:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/07/curatorial-vig/#app-tax
But cartels' power goes beyond the size of their warchest. The real source of a cartel's power is the ease with which a small number of companies can arrive at – and stick to – a common lobbying position. That's where "regulatory capture" comes in: the mobile duopoly has an easier time of capturing its regulators because two companies have an easy time agreeing on how to spend their app-tax billions:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/
Apple – and Google, and Facebook, and your car company – can violate your privacy because they aren't constrained regulation, just as Uber can violate its drivers' labor rights and Amazon can violate your consumer rights. The tech cartels have captured their regulators and convinced them that the law doesn't apply if it's being broken via an app:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#how-the-parties-get-to-yes
In other words, Apple can spy on you because it's allowed to spy on you. America's last consumer privacy law was passed in 1988, and it bans video-store clerks from leaking your VHS rental history. Congress has taken no action on consumer privacy since the Reagan years:
https://www.eff.org/tags/video-privacy-protection-act
But tech has some special enshittification-resistant characteristics. The most important of these is interoperability: the fact that computers are universal digital machines that can run any program. HP can design a printer that rejects third-party ink and charge $10,000/gallon for its own colored water, but someone else can write a program that lets you jailbreak your printer so that it accepts any ink cartridge:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer
Tech companies that contemplated enshittifying their products always had to watch over their shoulders for a rival that might offer a disenshittification tool and use that as a wedge between the company and its customers. If you make your website's ads 20% more obnoxious in anticipation of a 2% increase in gross margins, you have to consider the possibility that 40% of your users will google "how do I block ads?" Because the revenue from a user who blocks ads doesn't stay at 100% of the current levels – it drops to zero, forever (no user ever googles "how do I stop blocking ads?").
The majority of web users are running an ad-blocker:
https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/
Web operators made them an offer ("free website in exchange for unlimited surveillance and unfettered intrusions") and they made a counteroffer ("how about 'nah'?"):
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah
Here's the thing: reverse-engineering an app – or any other IP-encumbered technology – is a legal minefield. Just decompiling an app exposes you to felony prosecution: a five year sentence and a $500k fine for violating Section 1201 of the DMCA. But it's not just the DMCA – modern products are surrounded with high-tech tripwires that allow companies to invoke IP law to prevent competitors from augmenting, recongifuring or adapting their products. When a business says it has "IP," it means that it has arranged its legal affairs to allow it to invoke the power of the state to control its customers, critics and competitors:
https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/
An "app" is just a web-page skinned in enough IP to make it a crime to add an ad-blocker to it. This is what Jay Freeman calls "felony contempt of business model" and it's everywhere. When companies don't have to worry about users deploying self-help measures to disenshittify their products, they are freed from the constraint that prevents them indulging the impulse to shift value from their customers to themselves.
Apple owes its existence to interoperability – its ability to clone Microsoft Office's file formats for Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which saved the company in the early 2000s – and ever since, it has devoted its existence to making sure no one ever does to Apple what Apple did to Microsoft:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay
Regulatory capture cuts both ways: it's not just about powerful corporations being free to flout the law, it's also about their ability to enlist the law to punish competitors that might constrain their plans for exploiting their workers, customers, suppliers or other stakeholders.
The final historical constraint on tech companies was their own workers. Tech has very low union-density, but that's in part because individual tech workers enjoyed so much bargaining power due to their scarcity. This is why their bosses pampered them with whimsical campuses filled with gourmet cafeterias, fancy gyms and free massages: it allowed tech companies to convince tech workers to work like government mules by flattering them that they were partners on a mission to bring the world to its digital future:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/
For tech bosses, this gambit worked well, but failed badly. On the one hand, they were able to get otherwise powerful workers to consent to being "extremely hardcore" by invoking Fobazi Ettarh's spirit of "vocational awe":
https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/
On the other hand, when you motivate your workers by appealing to their sense of mission, the downside is that they feel a sense of mission. That means that when you demand that a tech worker enshittifies something they missed their mother's funeral to deliver, they will experience a profound sense of moral injury and refuse, and that worker's bargaining power means that they can make it stick.
Or at least, it did. In this era of mass tech layoffs, when Google can fire 12,000 workers after a $80b stock buyback that would have paid their wages for the next 27 years, tech workers are learning that the answer to "I won't do this and you can't make me" is "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out" (AKA "sharpen your blades boys"):
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/29/elon-musk-texts-discovery-twitter/
With competition, regulation, self-help and labor cleared away, tech firms – and firms that have wrapped their products around the pluripotently malleable core of digital tech, including automotive makers – are no longer constrained from enshittifying their products.
And that's why your car manufacturer has chosen to spy on you and sell your private information to data-brokers and anyone else who wants it. Not because you didn't pay for the product, so you're the product. It's because they can get away with it.
Cars are enshittified. The dozens of chips that auto makers have shoveled into their car design are only incidentally related to delivering a better product. The primary use for those chips is autoenshittification – access to legal strictures ("IP") that allows them to block modifications and repairs that would interfere with the unfettered abuse of their own customers:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon
The fact that it's a felony to reverse-engineer and modify a car's software opens the floodgates to all kinds of shitty scams. Remember when Bay Staters were voting on a ballot measure to impose right-to-repair obligations on automakers in Massachusetts? The only reason they needed to have the law intervene to make right-to-repair viable is that Big Car has figured out that if it encrypts its diagnostic messages, it can felonize third-party diagnosis of a car, because decrypting the messages violates the DMCA:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/drm-cars-will-drive-consumers-crazy
Big Car figured out that VIN locking – DRM for engine components and subassemblies – can felonize the production and the installation of third-party spare parts:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/08/about-those-kill-switched-ukrainian-tractors/
The fact that you can't legally modify your car means that automakers can go back to their pre-2008 ways, when they transformed themselves into unregulated banks that incidentally manufactured the cars they sold subprime loans for. Subprime auto loans – over $1t worth! – absolutely relies on the fact that borrowers' cars can be remotely controlled by lenders. Miss a payment and your car's stereo turns itself on and blares threatening messages at top volume, which you can't turn off. Break the lease agreement that says you won't drive your car over the county line and it will immobilize itself. Try to change any of this software and you'll commit a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/innovation-unlocks-markets/#digital-arm-breakers
Tesla, naturally, has the most advanced anti-features. Long before BMW tried to rent you your seat-heater and Mercedes tried to sell you a monthly subscription to your accelerator pedal, Teslas were demon-haunted nightmare cars. Miss a Tesla payment and the car will immobilize itself and lock you out until the repo man arrives, then it will blare its horn and back itself out of its parking spot. If you "buy" the right to fully charge your car's battery or use the features it came with, you don't own them – they're repossessed when your car changes hands, meaning you get less money on the used market because your car's next owner has to buy these features all over again:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world
And all this DRM allows your car maker to install spyware that you're not allowed to remove. They really tipped their hand on this when the R2R ballot measure was steaming towards an 80% victory, with wall-to-wall scare ads that revealed that your car collects so much information about you that allowing third parties to access it could lead to your murder (no, really!):
https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms
That's why your car spies on you. Because it can. Because the company that made it lacks constraint, be it market-based, legal, technological or its own workforce's ethics.
One common critique of my enshittification hypothesis is that this is "kind of sensible and normal" because "there’s something off in the consumer mindset that we’ve come to believe that the internet should provide us with amazing products, which bring us joy and happiness and we spend hours of the day on, and should ask nothing back in return":
https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-have-great-conversations/
What this criticism misses is that this isn't the companies bargaining to shift some value from us to them. Enshittification happens when a company can seize all that value, without having to bargain, exploiting law and technology and market power over buyers and sellers to unilaterally alter the way the products and services we rely on work.
A company that doesn't have to fear competitors, regulators, jailbreaking or workers' refusal to enshittify its products doesn't have to bargain, it can take. It's the first lesson they teach you in the Darth Vader MBA: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further":
https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure
Your car spying on you isn't down to your belief that your carmaker "should provide you with amazing products, which brings your joy and happiness you spend hours of the day on, and should ask nothing back in return." It's not because you didn't pay for the product, so now you're the product. It's because they can get away with it.
The consequences of this spying go much further than mere insurance premium hikes, too. Car telemetry sits at the top of the funnel that the unbelievably sleazy data broker industry uses to collect and sell our data. These are the same companies that sell the fact that you visited an abortion clinic to marketers, bounty hunters, advertisers, or vengeful family members pretending to be one of those:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/07/safegraph-spies-and-lies/#theres-no-i-in-uterus
Decades of pro-monopoly policy led to widespread regulatory capture. Corporate cartels use the monopoly profits they extract from us to pay for regulatory inaction, allowing them to extract more profits.
But when it comes to privacy, that period of unchecked corporate power might be coming to an end. The lack of privacy regulation is at the root of so many problems that a pro-privacy movement has an unstoppable constituency working in its favor.
At EFF, we call this "privacy first." Whether you're worried about grifters targeting vulnerable people with conspiracy theories, or teens being targeted with media that harms their mental health, or Americans being spied on by foreign governments, or cops using commercial surveillance data to round up protesters, or your car selling your data to insurance companies, passing that long-overdue privacy legislation would turn off the taps for the data powering all these harms:
https://www.eff.org/wp/privacy-first-better-way-address-online-harms
Traditional economics fails because it thinks about markets without thinking about power. Monopolies lead to more than market power: they produce regulatory capture, power over workers, and state capture, which felonizes competition through IP law. The story that our problems stem from the fact that we just don't spend enough money, or buy the wrong products, only makes sense if you willfully ignore the power that corporations exert over our lives. It's nice to think that you can shop your way out of a monopoly, because that's a lot easier than voting your way out of a monopoly, but no matter how many times you vote with your wallet, the cartels that control the market will always win:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/05/the-map-is-not-the-territory/#apor-locksmith
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/12/market-failure/#car-wars
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