By Richard Ward, Executive Director, American Vehicle Owners Alliance
Last week, President Trump met with auto industry executives, where right-to-repair issues were discussed. His reaction echoed what many vehicle owners are likely thinking.
“We had the auto industry in yesterday. They don’t want people to fix their car…Can you believe it? They want a bill that prohibits people from fixing [their cars].”
For most Americans, the response is straightforward: if you bought the vehicle, why shouldn’t you decide who repairs it?
That question sits at the center of the right-to-repair debate. It also points to a larger issue Congress is beginning to confront.
In modern vehicles, the ability to repair and maintain a vehicle increasingly depends on access to vehicle-generated data, such as information about performance, maintenance needs, diagnostic trouble codes, battery health, location, and dozens of other operating conditions.
A vehicle owner may want an independent repair shop to diagnose a problem. A fleet operator may want to monitor vehicle performance. A parent may want a safety application for a teenage driver. An electric vehicle owner may want tools to manage charging costs.
All of those services depend on access to vehicle-generated data.
Vehicle owners cannot fully exercise repair choices when critical vehicle information remains under the exclusive control of the manufacturer.
Congress is debating right-to-repair legislation because lawmakers recognize that access to vehicle information affects competition and consumer choice. Congress is also grappling with a related question: who controls vehicle-generated data after a vehicle has been sold?
In both debates, vehicle manufacturers are arguing for continued control over information generated by a vehicle, even after it has been sold.
That matters far beyond repair.
Vehicle data determines who can diagnose and repair vehicles, who can offer competing services, who can build new products, and who can participate in emerging transportation markets. But right now, manufacturers hold the keys to all the data, dominating the market and pre-determining who can compete and exist in the industry. Fleet operators, rental car companies, insurers, aftermarket manufacturers, technology companies, and charging providers all depend on access to vehicle-generated information when authorized by the vehicle owner.
Our connected vehicle economy should be built on competition, innovation, and consumer choice.
When a consumer purchases a vehicle, that consumer should be able to access vehicle-generated data and decide who can use that information on their behalf.
President Trump’s reaction resonated because it reflected a basic expectation shared by millions of Americans. People believe that when they buy a vehicle, they should decide what happens to it.
That principle should not disappear because vehicles have become connected devices.
Congress has an opportunity to establish a simple principle: vehicle owners should control access to vehicle-generated data and decide who can use it on their behalf.
The right to choose who repairs a vehicle increasingly depends on that principle. So does the ability to choose competing services, technologies, and future transportation solutions.
Americans already own their vehicles. They should control the data that those vehicles generate.