General Motors and other member companies of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation are challenging a voter-approved ballot initiative in Massachusetts that would allow for changes to be made to the state’s Right to Repair laws.
According to Reuters, representatives from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and its various member companies took the witness stand this week to testify before Boston U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock. The group, which represents major automakers like General Motors, Ford and Toyota, sued to block the Massachusetts ballot initiative last fall. If passed, the initiative would require automakers to provide independent repair shops with more access to mechanical and electronic repair data for their vehicles, thereby making it easier for smaller shops to work on complex modern cars, trucks and SUVs.
The Automotive Alliance for Innovation is looking for the U.S. district judge to block the law, saying “years of manufacturers’ work and billions of dollars in investment to protect and secure vehicle data will effectively be obliterated,” if it were to pass. In a brief filed last week, the group also said the law would “make serious cyberattacks much more likely and deadly than the attacks on pipelines and meat processors currently in the news.”
Additionally, as safety and vehicle emissions controls are embedded in the protected software of modern vehicles, the group argues the Massachusetts law would stand in opposition to federal laws protecting those systems and violate the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Clean Air Act.
Advanced vehicle systems have made it difficult for independent repair shops to work on new vehicles, with manufacturers limiting access to repair instructions and warranties to pre-approved shops only. Independent shops argue this is a way for manufacturers to take control of vehicle repairs and increase profits.
GM Authority will provide an update on this case as more information comes to light in the coming months.
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Comments
Sounds like a monopoly situation?
That’s one perspective. The alternative is that Russian hackers get into GMs systems because they were required by law to make their code accessible by every mom and pop shop. Then suddenly your car doesn’t operate. Your personal information is available to all.
The latest hacks reinforce how important it is that GM be able to secure their systems. It may put many out of business. But, if the owners really are entrepreneurs, they’ll come up with an even better business model.
so you are saying open source software is a hacker’s dream. i don’t think that is the case. i use linux nearly 100% of the time and i’d bet anything that is more secure than windows.
That’s what the lawyers from the big companies want the judge to believe.
It is not even the Russian hackers. The real trouble is people will get in and monkey with the computers on these vehicles and then they have trouble and then try to force the MFGs to deal with their screw ups under warranty or take them to court because the owner will not take responsibility for what they messed up.
To leave the computer open to all also will leave it open to American hackers that will take control of your car and make it in operable till you pay a ransom to get it back.
Then the MFGs can face EPA issues if people are going in and dialing their emissions because the MFG did not lock it out from the market place.
Then yes overseas hackers like the Russians, Koreans, Chinese and Iranians. are all players in this too.
The gas line attack a few weeks ago was not an isolated incident. My company and others were attempted to be hacked. We drove them off but one of our competitors did not and had to pay the ransom as it was costing them millions being shut down.
I am very concerned that Washington really did not respond well to this. It will happen again and again.
They spent billions of dollars for their “proprietary” software for the express purpose of putting small shops out of business and drive customers to their dealerships instead. Then they claim that the law will will effectively wipe out their billions of dollars they spent. The answer is an emphatic YES, that is correct it will wipe out your billions of dollars you spent to put small shops out of business. And the auto industry is crying it’s UNFAIR that we can’t put small shops out of business using billions of dollars to do so.
Do you guys see the failed logic in their argument?
Just wait until big brother has us all leasing disposable BEVs…. Haha 😅 These sheep have no idea what corporate America is capable of. Lowercase gm is THE worst iteration of gm yet. Mary Barra has to go.
Proprietary information that the manufactures spend billions of dollars to develop should not be required to be given away. Independents can already buy the tools they need to do repairs just like a dealer if they want to. Right to repair isn’t being pushed by independents and mom & pops so much as the aftermarket parts industry. May the real reason for right to repair is the Chinese can make better counterfeit parts.
Subaru has deactivated their Starlink connected services for all 2022 model year vehicles in Massachusetts
This whole ‘Right To Repair’ flap is just another money grab by the manufacturers.
Connecting a scan tool to a vehicle in order to pull DTCs and other service information doesn’t necessarily have to compromise a manufacturer’s proprietary information. The ability to repair a vehicle should be available to anyone who wants to work on said vehicle. It’s simply a matter of partitioning the data carried on the vehicle’s various control modules.
If manufacturers refuse to allow access to repair data to anyone other than their own dealers’ service departments, they should be made to disclose this to all potential buyers of their vehicles right up front.
As far as ‘hacking’ vehicle operating systems goes, they should have already been programmed with secure systems. Of course, this additional programming, and it’s upkeep, costs $$$, and therein lies the rub.
I work on my own vehicles; I’ve invested about $1500 on scan equipment in order to do so. If a manufacturer disclosed to me that I cannot access repair/maintenance data on a certain vehicle, I would not buy that vehicle.
The better idea is to not have internet connectivity on the vehicles. Problem solved.
I live in Massachusetts. The right to repair law forced them to make scan tools available to anyone. They can still charge however many $1000’s they want. THAT’S IT. It does not decrypt OnStar or any other vehicle computer. That’s just scare tactics they’ve been using since last fall. They ran tons of ads where a woman was being stalked in a dark parking garage because the right to repair somehow allowed someone to track her car. It’s despicable that they go that low.
I have to side with the independent repair shops but treat them as a warranty service shop. Any violation and they are locked out or taken to court.
First, the threat of someone “hacking” is a non-argument. If the CIA, Department of Defense, FBI, major corporations who spend millions of dollars on cyber security can be hacked, then so can GM. Trust me, I have owned/leased nine GM vehicles and their electronics systems are a constant problem; hackers would not even work up a sweat stealing those codes. Second, do what every other company does. Have Independent Factory Authorized Service Centers where the facility is staffed by Certified Technicians approved by GM. Not all quality mechanics work, or want to work, for dealerships. That way a customer who does not live or work close to a quality dealership with a “good” Service Department, can utilize an Independent Factory Authorized Service Center for warranty/out of warranty repairs.
“Not all quality mechanics work, or WANT TO WORK, for dealerships. ”
^^^^THIS.
Even living in a small town as I do, I still know 2 successful independent local shop owners who each started out in the biz as dealer service dept. mechanics. Both were/are very good at what they do; both have stated that they grew tired of dealing with service department ‘politics,’ and sometimes having their hands tied regarding interference while attempting to perform repairs correctly and/or in a timely manner.
It would be nice to see someone make a ECM that plugs into the factory plugs and you can just program and monitor your car they way you want to.