I do think there is a market for vehicles without obese levels of technology, I purchased my Jimny specifically because the technology in it is very simple, but it does have basic driver assistance features.

Collision Prevention and lane keeping is provided by a sealed camera/RADAR module that provides basic data signals that you are going to hit something or the lines in the road aren’t the same on both sides. It is spartan, but effective.

The GPS receiver is also encapsulated in the radio head unit. There is no data connection between the Radio and the rest of the vehicle electronics. It has a USB port of CarPlay/Android Auto, analogue camera input for the rear vision and basic analogue signals for Reverse, Lights, etc.

Due to the lack of advanced electronic driver assistance features (and the fact that it is shaped like a brick and is designed as a Kei Car) ENCAP only gave it a 3 star rating. Due to its 3 star rating, some Insurance companies are inflating their premiums and in some cases, refusing insurance.

Offer a dumb phone as a value add-on.

Can we bring back the Sony Ericsson W800i with 4G antennas? I always wanted one of those!

The Pinephone is functional as a 4G dumb phone with the added benefit of open source software/firmware transparency. Most but not 100% of the firmware. The software is developed enough for dumb phone usage only.

Sadly I suspect that will not be the case. You need various sensors and computers to fill safety requirements (e.g AEB is now required on all new cars and I expect stuff like speed limit detection to become mandatory in the near future), let alone comfort and entertainment features.

Since most if not all of the necessary hardware is already in it’s going to be pretty hard to keep manufacturers from collecting data - trends in smartphones and computers have shown people will accept a lot of data collection and ongoing subscription services, and I expect the car manufacturers have been taking note.