Believe me BMW were as bad if not worse, I designed a trscking system to track a vehicle build and store the data on an RF tag, this data stayed with the vehicle from the initial frame build to leaving the gates on a transporter, the dealers would be able to access the data for warranty claims etc, the cost of the RF tag permanently attached to the vehicle (Mini in this case) was 40 pence, it was thrown out due to cost, go figure?If they needed to cut costs they would’ve been better off giving the bean counters the arse than cheapscating the product.
A race to the bottom is never a race you want to win………everyone but bastard bean counters understands that!