What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…
Furthermore, this "simple" car will not last very long. People have forgotten that nowadays, but in the old times of "simple" mechanical cars, cars used to break down much more often and require much more skilled maintenance.
Most people would not know how to use it. Do you think people will be able to handle an unassisted wheel? You know, actually use their muscles to turn the wheel when parking? How about unassisted brakes? You get into a dangerous situation, you slam on the brakes and then it turns out that you have to use your muscles to actually apply sufficient force. How about even getting into the car without a radio key fob. I very much doubt the majority of people will even know how to lock or unlock their rear doors without a central lock/unlock key. They will probably just leave their car unlocked.
But most importantly, it wouldn't sell. Cars nowadays sell based on electronic features. You can see that from the commercials. Even fairly advanced features like navigation and parking sensors are considered a must have now.