[car_addict]

This has been proven to be media again generating headlines for rage clicks

CALM DOWN, PLEASE —
No, BMW is not making heated seats a subscription for US cars/

BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month" declares one headline; "BMW Makes Heated Seats an $18/Month Subscription Service—Again" reads another. However, you'd have to read past the headlines and well into the bodies of the articles to find out that, actually, the automaker has no public plans to bring this subscription model here to the US market and that it's happening in South Korea.

BMW has also said this is a way for the second owner of a car to benefit from features that the original owner chose not to purchase.

We're not fans of this microtransaction model of car options, whether it's for heated seats or a driver convenience feature of questionable safety. It's highly likely that a car will be on the road and operational long after the server that needs to authenticate the purchase has been decommissioned, for one thing. So let's be thankful that BMW North America isn't subscribing to this particular business model. Yet.

But please don't put down the pitchforks yet. This is just the beginning of the war.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

It's a scary thought and one that we shouldn't become fools into believing they are doing it for our benefit. This is a dangerous trend.

+1

To me the concept (acceptance) is more scary than what is being offered at present.

Subscription models have become the norm in software products so much that we don't bat an eye when the model gets extended to other consumer products/segments
- news
- entertainment
- gaming
and so many more. While some of these are optional and a luxury, know that there's a stronger hidden push to make us hooked on them for life. And that's the part that not right as once consumers get used to the model, it can be pushed on services that are vital and can not be ignored. It will also determine how future product launches are structured. Especially the EV market where this kind of pay-for-service OTT model should be able to extended over the car capabilities extensively (as compared to an ICE car).

I hope the backlash in the South Korea market is strong enough - would give BMW and other manufacturers some food for thought on their future plans in this area. Similar to the backlash it received in the US market a few years ago when they tried to offer Apple CarPlay as a paid service; but seeing a lot of backlash, the automaker relented and even made CarPlay standard across most of its range later that year.

[RMN]

Wow.

That's all I have a to say about this future.


But, what happens when the manufacturer shuts shop (a la Ford, Chevy in India) or they just decide to discontinue this cloud offering?

[Turbohead]

Will the manufacturer upgrade the heating system/any subscription based features like software products? For example, if you get the Microsoft package, your Excel and Word will always be updated to the latest version.

If no, this is a useless and pointless means of adopting subscription services.

If yes, that's an interesting means to extend car ownership and still get paid while being environment friendly.

[Mustang Sammy]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Special waiver from other subscriptions if you use your indicators. (One at a time, not both hazard lights driving during rains like in MH).

Is that a thing only in Maharashtra?

[Encyclopedic]

The day is near when there will be some ransomeware attack on all these connected cars.Also,it looks like BMW is itself demanding some ransome for physical material elements which you already have in the car.

[pjbiju]

In the software world where subscription models are becoming more and more common, the cost of adding the software for all the supported features, is not much, at the time of deployment. The cost is for the development of features. So all installations whether on desktops or on the cloud can be full installations and features can be enabled based on subscriptions.

For a vehicle, for the vast majority of features, there will be both hardware and software. And the cost of hardware is going to be a fixed cost. Now if the use of the hardware (e.g. car seat heating) is controlled through a subscription, will the manufacturer not charge the customer for the hardware upfront? If they do not, then it is fine from an end consumer point of view. But how will it work out for the manufacturer from a financial point of view, in recovering the cost of hardware manufacturing? And if they indeed charge the customer for the hardware and is only not charging them for the software part of it, it is not of any benefit to the user.

There are other issues as well. The hardware with subscription should have a perpetual warranty. What if the heating mechanism conks off when a user is subscribed to that feature at any point in the vehicle's life? The manufacturer will have to repair/replace the hardware free of cost, right? Else it does not make any sense for the user.

This will be an interesting space to watch for.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Mustang Sammy

Is that a thing only in Maharashtra?

Well, that’s where I drive in the monsoons so that’s where I’ve seen it. Will comment on other states in India as and when I drive there in the monsoons (should that lighter moment warrant repeating itself of course).
EDIT: On a serious note, I actually find this really disconcerting while driving. You can’t anticipate any lane change in conditions where it would be even more critical.



On the measure itself, my view is actually that its a rubbish move and really only designed to make more money for the carmaker. I seriously doubt this will reduce the cost of buying the car per se. We’ll pay the same amount to buy the car and pay more for using it. Don’t like this trend AT ALL.

[vellatechie]

Hear me out. I think this is wonderful if done properly.

For example. I don't need ventilated seats 13 months in Delhi. And I don't want to get the top model just for ventilated seats. If I can get base model for example, I am happy paying a subscription for ventilated seats 3 months every year.

There are many other use cases of similar features. As long as subscription features are non mandatory and are of good to have features, I think itl be great if more companies adopt this.

[black.beauty]

Next time a police officer catches me for overspeeding, I am going to say it's not my fault, my subscription for brakes expired. 😉

[McLaren Rulez]

Can't wait for this to happen because it will be hilariously entertaining.

There will be some smart cookie who figures out how to get around that software block for free and publishes that solution on the internet. It's software, it's going to inevitably happen. Every BMW owner who doesn't care about the warranty is going to download that and start using all the hardware that's built in without paying a dime.

What's BMW gonna do, sue the owners? I'm gonna enjoy my popcorn while their PR people try and put that dumpster fire out.

[Samurai]

Will this be legal? What happens to 15 years of road tax, if you enable features after the sale?

Secondly, this sounds like leasing the car feature by feature.

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

There will be some smart cookie who figures out how to get around that software block for free and publishes that solution on the internet. It's software, it's going to inevitably happen. Every BMW owner who doesn't care about the warranty is going to download that and start using all the hardware that's built in without paying a dime.

As someone working with cryptography for a long time, I can tell you it is not possible. Otherwise, all ecommerce would have collapsed long ago.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

This model is designed to put extra money in BMW’s pocket, not to save you any.

You have already paid for the hardware which will come with car when you buy it. You are then paying extra fee just for the privilege of using it. In short, you are getting fleeced.

This is known to every consumer.

Which auto maker is here to save you money. Every enterprise irrespective of the industry is in business to make money. Not a single auto manufacturer is pricing their products reasonably. Everyone is fleecing consumers.

We can keep saying-I paid $100K (as an example) and they should have given me this feature as stock. Nope, that is not going to happen at least in luxury car market. Take it or leave it. Nobody is forcing any consumer to buy a particular product. Everyone takes a informed decision.

In this model, at least you get to choose how much you get fleeced.

SaaS (Software (In this case, Service) as a Service) model was being built from many years now by most companies and writing was on the wall that business models will shift to this model.

I don't know why everyone sees this in a negative fashion.

Think of all positive outcomes when you can subscribe to some features that is not necessarily needed throughout your car ownership. It frees up a lot of money that you plonk on it in first place because there was no option to de-couple it at time of purchase.

Finally, my prediction is this model is here to stay and will be probably become even mainstream in next 5-10 years.

[ajayc123]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Finally, my prediction is this model is here to stay and will be probably become even mainstream in next 5-10 years.

Not sure if a term HaaS (Hardware as a Service), exists, but I am not too convinced that it is SaaS.

The difference, as I see is that the hardware is there inside your car, for which you have paid, but you are required to pay to use it. To me, it is closer to Ransomware, where you have your laptop, fior which you have already paid, and to get to use it, you need to pay to a hacker to gain access.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

Not sure if a term HaaS (Hardware as a Service), exists, but I am not too convinced that it is SaaS.

The difference, as I see is that the hardware is there inside your car, for which you have paid, but you are required to pay to use it. To me, it is closer to Ransomware, where you have your laptop, fior which you have already paid, and to get to use it, you need to pay to a hacker to gain access.

Good Point. Call it HaaS or SaaS. Either way, OEM is enabling certain features by the flick of a switch. That is how I read it.

It does not matter if hardware is built into the car or not. You get to use a certain feature by paying monthly/yearly subscription for it.

"Building" cars is an alien concept in India. It's pretty common here in US or elsewhere in the world. You pay for a base car and then build on top of it for features that you want.

Hence, folks in India find it hard to digest than we who are used to this for a while now.