Posted on 08/17/2023 7:21:25 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
The German company Mercedes-Benz, which has withdrawn from the Russian market, also decided to disconnect Russian dealers from its software completely. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov threw a tantrum and threatened to "ruin" the concern.
(Excerpt) Read more at eng.obozrevatel.com ...
His annual income is 52.6 million rubles, nice work if you can find it.
His son is a gay model in London and has never been conscripted/ served in the Russian army.
Apparently he drives a Merc and is very unhappy about the service.
In the full video, he calls for a class action lawsuit against MB.
What would he say about extra monthly charges for heated seats?
Video from Russian Tv of Solovyov whining about his Mercedes Benz problems, with English translation.
Starts near the 10 min point and the rest of the video is also interesting.
It’s like the USA confiscating Russia’s US dollar assets - you do it once, and it puts everyone else on notice you are not reliable, and should look elsewhere
Vladimir Solovyov. That name would look good on a headstone.
I don't care. Weekly World News.
—”Vladimir Solovyov. That name would look good on a headstone.”
Many have nothing good to say about him, but it should be remembered that he is in fact biodegradable.
—”I don’t care. “
Then, why bother clicking on the thread?
Why take time to post?
Most odd.
Three observations:
Individuals own cars. And now a “private” corporation has made them impossible to repair because that corporation is angry at the government where the person lives. The blending of State and corporate power, so the Russian guy is not all that far off.
Two, China and India has Mercedes, Chinese and Indians are great at doing software.
Three, as with US Banks that have started doing behavior modification for the occupation government in DC, now you have to carefully reconsider doing business with them.
—”Individuals own cars. “
Kind of sort of...
Want Heated Seats in Your BMW? There’s a Monthly Fee for That.
Luxury auto maker is charging customers a subscription for heated seats in several countries...
Want Heated Seats in Your BMW? There’s a Monthly Fee for That.
Luxury auto maker is charging customers a subscription for heated seats in several countries
Monthly fees for front-seat heating costs roughly $15 in South Africa, $17 in Germany, $18 in the U.K., and $30 in New Zealand, according to BMW websites in those countries. Customers can pay for one month, one year, three years or for unlimited service. They can also do a one-month trial in some countries.
BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE!
BMW also sells separate subscriptions for an array of extra perks, from real-time traffic information to steering-wheel heating and active cruise control with a stop-and-go function. In the U.K, for example, a heated steering wheel costs roughly $12 a month.
if it is like everyone else, it is proprietary software, usually running on a PC modified in a proprietary manner to be a local server (each local server may forward certain requests to a central server at corporate HQ). the local server talks primarily to a diagnostic module on the auto itself.
without diagnostics and status resets, IMHO a modern auto quickly becomes unreliable to drive. it seems possible that the auto becomes dangerous to drive.
the charitable thing for MB to do at a minimum would be to release the software protocol between the auto diagnostic device and the local server (IIRC the hardware level is common to all modern autos via a standard). however, if MB does this then it opens the portion of diagnostics that runs on the local server and corporate server to its worldwide market, which could then come up with server clones that could (would) drastically reduce MB service revenue. each local server could cost US$40K or more (2012 US$, the significance of 2012 being the date of the last time I tracked it).
Unreal about New Mercedes and BMWs. I will file that under “problems I will never have”.
But stepping outside the Russia debate here. It’s a bad and growing trend for corporations to cut off support to customers for politics.
Apple, Google deplatforming and demonetizing. Farange getting his back account closed. US Banks and credit cards refusing service to gun businesses.
Global fascism.
He doesn’t care about fascism, he just hates who he hates, because, well his name says it all.
Add right to repair, and in addition, an “innovation” pioneered by Elon is VIN coding electronic parts in the car so you can’t go to a wrecking yard to get a new headlight or driver’s mirror, because a lot of these parts won’t work if the vin code doesn’t match.
Ugh... and don’t forget John Deere.
Yes, right to repair is an issue for farm equipment, commercial trucks, construction equipment as well as passenger vehicles.
On the Russia question, what is interesting is that external sanctions are forcing Russia away from dependence on Western products and technology which Putin has wanted to do for a long time, but didn’t feel he had enough popular support.
At current exchange rates, that's about $526,000. "Top?" Not by a long shot.
Sean Hannity - $40 millionObozrevatel'slogan is "Made in Ukraine." Scrolling down the web page gives an indication of the news they cover -- in English. Nosing around their site a bit, in the "Documents" part of the website, one finds some "404 Page Not Found." Seems like their "team" isn't fully on "top" either. They need to come work at MSNBC.Diane Sawyer - $22 million
Robin Roberts - $18 million
George Stephanopoulos - $15 million.
Anderson Cooper - $12 million
Shepard Smith - $10 million
Maria Bartiromo - $10 million
Joe Scarborough - $8 million
Bret Baier - $7 million
Scott Pelley - $7 million
Rachel Maddow - $7 million
Lawrence O'Donnell - $5 million
Lester Holt - $4 million
As to Solovyov, reading further tells some interesting tidbits --
In the early 1990s, Solovyov taught economics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.[20]This probably explains Rachel Maddow.....In 1999, Solovyov first appeared as a presenter on two TV talk shows: The Process on the ORT channel (with Alexander Gordon) (1999–2001) and Passion for Solovyov on the TNT channel (1999–2002). These were followed by his own projects Breakfast with Solovyov and Nightingale Night on TV6, the latter being the final show broadcast on the station before it was shut down in early 2002, as well as Look Who's Coming!, Duel on TVS and Orange Juice on NTV.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Solovyov_(TV_presenter)
Given that Russia has been conducting cyber warfare for over fifteen years against healthcare and education, and has started attacking safety critical monitoring systems, industrial controls and the like, damned right Russia shouldn’t be given open access to firmware.
Maybe Mercedes can create a special firmware just for Russia where the speedometer shows whatever it has to show to stop breaking the speed limit, the mpg says “who cares, there is unlimited Russian gas”, and Solovyov gets reminded that German cars are Nazi cars every time he forgets to clunk click the seatbelt.
—”In the early 1990s, Solovyov taught economics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.”
Very interesting and explains his calling for a class action against MB in the full version.
Class actions are not yet a thing in the EU and are a recent development in Russia.
About his wages, the typical Russian takes home ~$500.00 a month, not quite Hannity level but well into the boyar level.
—” New Mercedes and BMWs. I will file that under “problems I will never have”.”
Not how you should think about it.
PMA!!!
A million-dollar meteorite might land in your yard.
Have a plan and be ready to implement it.
An early work mentor used to tell me that often.
He left to start up his own operation.
His hobby was sailplanes; a year or so later he sent a photo of him and his new $$$ sailplane!
PMA!
Presently, Russia can’t produce automobiles in country. That includes the old soviet cars.
Russia just isn’t
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