Nobody says it is a secret cabal. It is very frustrating when people misstate other people's beliefs

There are politicians and activists that have been pushing for lower car ownership and they do it openly. Motivations for this vary.

> There is an old and tired cabal of manufacturers wanting to generate a moat and push prices up high.

Two things can be true at once.

> It is very frustrating when people misstate other people's beliefs

I agree. It is also frustrating when people don't recognize or cry foul when their personal beliefs are restated within homotopy equivalence, perhaps (I speculate) because they think it weakens an already weak argument. Perhaps even moreso for those stating the equivalence because there is not argumentative advantage to be gained by expressing said frustration regarding said response.

Or at least it could be. I'm actually feeling indifferent on the topic.

> There are politicians and activists that have been pushing for lower car ownership and they do it openly.

Words are cheap, words and rallys and activist productions moreso, show the policy that impacts national and international production.

You are making the serious suggestion that a significant portion of the average cars cost is artificial in order to make people not buy them? And the extremely powerful automotive lobby is just fine with this?

I live in the UK.

It isn't unheard of that business will collude with government to "pull the ladder up behind them". I've worked in companies where that has been their stated strategy.

Pulling up the ladder behind you means cutting off competition. Not cutting off your own production.

if i am a hardcore environmentalist, i throw regulations at cars to make prices eye wateringly high. car makers are aligned due to ensuing profit

if i am a hardcore environmentalist, i throw regulations at homebuilding to make housebuilding excruciating. homeowner voters are thrilled by the ensuing valuations

see: california