Mercedes-Benz's largest individual shareholder is BAIC, a Chinese state-owned automaker. Sources told CNBC that exemptions in the legislation would not apply.
There are different kinds of “old cars”, the kind of old cars made before 70s that are really inefficient with gasoline, but might last another hundred years if maintained, and the kind of old cars made up to 90s that are harder to keep from falling apart, and then the kind made later, which is - not really for future generations.
The more optimized their production is and the less luxurious they are as a thing, the closer they are to something that’ll only last their guaranteed time. Preferably for the producer - falling apart into rust a couple of days after that.
By the 80s the Mercedes mechanical injection diesel engined cars were capable of a million+ miles if maintained at all, that was a major business mistake (killing your new unit sales because all your customers already have good cars) which they slowly reversed across the next 20 years. Now they make disposables like everybody else.
The whole global auto industry should be incentivized to go back to that “runs forever” design focus of the Mercedes W123 series and improve on it with more longevity, cheaper serviceability. Efficiency and emissions don’t mean much when you’re scrapping the whole 5000lbs of automobile every 10 years.
The whole global auto industry should be incentivized to go back to that “runs forever” design focus of the Mercedes W123 series and improve on it with more longevity, cheaper serviceability.
That works when the car itself is something produced in small batches and a very capital design and costs accordingly, or when its maintenance makes bank and for the producer at that, or when there’s continued growth, so you don’t sell new cars to people with old cars.
I mean, of course there’s the variant of cars being as modular as PCs and a Mercedes of Theseus being possible. Always profitable for the producer, since from time to time the customer buys spare parts (a law is necessary that it’s legal to make and sell spare parts for anyone ; just like with Apple stuff, official things will be more popular), and never just fully going to junk at once. Seems the most realistic variant for me, economically, of the good ones.
There’s another variant, a dystopian one, being implemented in fact, where car producers own you via parts pairing, planned obsolescence, parts barely surviving guarantee age and impeded repair and telemetry, all at once.
Without ability to put pressure almost like in war, the modular variant would be the equilibrium, unfortunately we the humanity haven’t yet adjusted our societies for computers (no need for a more complex description).
There are different kinds of “old cars”, the kind of old cars made before 70s that are really inefficient with gasoline, but might last another hundred years if maintained, and the kind of old cars made up to 90s that are harder to keep from falling apart, and then the kind made later, which is - not really for future generations.
The more optimized their production is and the less luxurious they are as a thing, the closer they are to something that’ll only last their guaranteed time. Preferably for the producer - falling apart into rust a couple of days after that.
By the 80s the Mercedes mechanical injection diesel engined cars were capable of a million+ miles if maintained at all, that was a major business mistake (killing your new unit sales because all your customers already have good cars) which they slowly reversed across the next 20 years. Now they make disposables like everybody else.
The whole global auto industry should be incentivized to go back to that “runs forever” design focus of the Mercedes W123 series and improve on it with more longevity, cheaper serviceability. Efficiency and emissions don’t mean much when you’re scrapping the whole 5000lbs of automobile every 10 years.
That works when the car itself is something produced in small batches and a very capital design and costs accordingly, or when its maintenance makes bank and for the producer at that, or when there’s continued growth, so you don’t sell new cars to people with old cars.
I mean, of course there’s the variant of cars being as modular as PCs and a Mercedes of Theseus being possible. Always profitable for the producer, since from time to time the customer buys spare parts (a law is necessary that it’s legal to make and sell spare parts for anyone ; just like with Apple stuff, official things will be more popular), and never just fully going to junk at once. Seems the most realistic variant for me, economically, of the good ones.
There’s another variant, a dystopian one, being implemented in fact, where car producers own you via parts pairing, planned obsolescence, parts barely surviving guarantee age and impeded repair and telemetry, all at once.
Without ability to put pressure almost like in war, the modular variant would be the equilibrium, unfortunately we the humanity haven’t yet adjusted our societies for computers (no need for a more complex description).