In the US you can do that already, but I wonder if it will be cheaper for decades to come to purchase a used commercial vehicle (typically a pickup truck or van) and overhaul it as long as the frame is good. The amount of information mechanics can find online these days about some pretty esoteric rebuilding procedures boggles my mind. What I see folks refurbishing in Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, Pakistan and elsewhere to keep on the roads is astonishing (albeit only possible in current markets as we implement them with high-skill, low-cost labor).

There are a hell of a lot of light-to-heavy duty diesel pickups in the US and the aftermarket offerings are enormously deep and broad, for example. I imagine that will take awhile to fade away, and if metrology gets advanced and cheap enough, and integrates well enough with machinists on the floor, I can see a possible future where these parts live on in electronic form to the point where reproducing them from scratch gets into the realm of economically feasible.

I'm not aware of any dumb TV manufacturer after over a decade of smart TVs. I'm afraid the demand for dumb devices is simply not sustainable. People get accustomed to the new normal very quickly.

I'm hoping for this as well. It's probably going to be way more expensive than normal though, considering how efficient car manufacturing is and how hard it is for new players to get into (and the loss of revenue for not having "smart" features)

This is very unlikely, as the regulations are set up to protect the incumbents. Just to sell a new vehicle in the US you have to crash test several copies of the vehicle.

Very unlikely. All the startups are EV manufacturers with even more technology.