Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
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Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#2> BMW currently requires car owners in some countries to pay roughly $12 per month to access a safety feature called “High Beam Assistant,” which automatically turns off a car’s high beam lights when it senses another car to avoid blinding other drivers at night.
> “Safety should come standard,” Wallace said of adaptive headlights. “Some automakers might think that those are simply a convenience feature, but there’s a demonstrated safety benefit.”
This is the second-worst example of this kind of thing I've ever seen. The only worse one was gating air bags (yes, the kind that save your life if you crash) behind a subscription: https://hackaday.com/2021/05/18/do-you-really-own-it-motorcy...
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#3> BMW currently requires car owners in some countries to pay roughly $12 per month to access a safety feature called “High Beam Assistant,” which automatically turns off a car’s high beam lights when it senses another car to avoid blinding other drivers at night. > “Safety should come standard,” Wallace said of adaptive headlights. “Some automakers might think that those are simply a convenience feature, but there’s…
Comfort is a safety feature as well. You need to be awake and able to focus on the road.
Saab had a funny one for this - there were 3 vents in the front of your dashboard, but one always blew cold air no matter what, so that in the winter, you could point it on your face. Heat cranked and no warm fatigue... a beautiful thing.
Antipatterns are the worst.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#4The smarter cars get, the worse they are for consumer rights and Privacy.
Unfortunately its a general trend, everything that is getting "smartified" is becoming an anti consumer black box, and If you care about your privacy or owning the device you bought, you are out of luck.
It happened with TVs, and now its coming for cars too, there might be options now but they won't last long, is there a dumb TV in your local supermarket? No, and there is no privacy respecting TV either.
I dont hate smart things, I wish I can enjoy all the new convenient tech without being spied on and my private life getting sold to the highest bidder.
I want a smart home, a smart car, a smart TV, a smart vacuum.
But until they stop being spyware, there is no option other than just not buying, or hacking it to stop spying.
The only way to stop this is with regulation, because every other monetary incentive, will continue to push everything towards the same goal, spyware and spying on your every move.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#5This, I think, is one of those cases where we need regulation.
I would be fine with banning subscription features in any vehicle.
What you drive off the lot is what you get for the life of the vehicle, barring physical damage.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#6I'm not looking forward to the future of this.
Is an affordable vehicle with competitive features and no subscription model too much to ask for?
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#7They can try, but customers might rebel and safety or standards agencies might get involved. I would think this bs will drive people towards leasing cars, which is also logical in case the 2030-2035 no more ICE comes to pass. Is this what the vendors really want?
Or the hackers will have a field day, and any vendor that breaks ranks should do quite handsomely.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#8Get that Monthly Recurring Revenue BAYBEEE. If you have MRR, you're a tech company, not a dirty smelly thing manufacturer, and Wall Street might love you.
It's kind of funny that the article says
> "But it’s not just BMW: industry watchers and consumer advocates warn that the nickel-and-diming threatens to become standard as automakers chase a recurring revenue model pioneered by Elon Musk’s Tesla."
GM launched OnStar and Satellite Radio years before Elon bought into Tesla.
Disclosure: I work for GM and I am representing solely my own point of view.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#9This, I think, is one of those cases where we need regulation. I would be fine with banning subscription features in any vehicle. What you drive off the lot is what you get for the life of the vehicle, barring physical damage.
Yup. Bring it under lemon laws when purchased items fail and can’t be fixed without payments.
Re: Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features
#10> General Motors has told investors it aims to generate up to $25 billion in software and services subscription revenue annually by 2030 — up from an estimated $2 billion in 2021. Stellantis, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, is shooting for $23 billion by 2030.
If they made $2B and are shooting for $25B, this practice will only escalate.