gjm 3258 Report post Posted September 8, 2023 BMW will expand its offering of paid-for on-demand services and functions with future models – but sales boss Pieter Nota has said they are not considering charging customers to activate hardware-based functions in the future. As with many car firms, BMW is using the increasing connectivity of cars to offer over-the-air updates, which can include the ability to add new functions. Last year they controversially offered a monthly subscription to activate heated seats in some models. Asked how BMW will ensure customers don’t feel they’re being made to pay extra for functions they would previously have expected as standard, Pieter Nota said: “We have some experience with that, and testing how the customer responds is part of that process. “We actually are now focusing with those ‘functions on demand’ on software and service-related products, like driving assistance and parking assistance, which you can add later after purchasing the car, or for certain functions that require data transmission that customers are used to paying for in other areas. “What we don’t do any more – and that is a very well-known example – is offer seat heating by this way. It’s either in or out. We offer it by the factory and you either have it or you don’t have it. “We thought that we would provide an extra service to the customer by offering the chance to activate that later, but the user acceptance isn’t that high. People feel that they paid double – which was actually not true, but perception is reality, I always say. So that was the reason we stopped that.” When asked which services BMW could charge for, Nota said: “What we find is software-based services, like downloading a parking assist product, is very well accepted. People know it’s a certain piece of software they can download that costs money. It’s the same as downloading a film or an extra feature on an app. That is accepted and we do that increasingly successfully.” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted September 8, 2023 (edited) Good. It was a dumb and greedy proposition from the outset, I hope it cost them some long-term customer loyality. But the quotes above are also just marketing BS and misdirection... Quote ...but sales boss Pieter Nota has said they are not considering charging customers to activate hardware-based functions in the future. Quote What we find is software-based services, like downloading a parking assist product... How are they doing parking assist without (pre)installed hardware? Liars. Edited September 8, 2023 by M3AN 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vass 867 Report post Posted September 8, 2023 f**k all new cars in general. Soulless crapbuckets. 4 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1906 Report post Posted September 8, 2023 16 hours ago, M3AN said: Good. It was a dumb and greedy proposition from the outset, I hope it cost them some long-term customer loyality. But the quotes above are also just marketing BS and misdirection... How are they doing parking assist without (pre)installed hardware? Liars. Electric power steering, autonomous braking, drive by wire, 360 degree cameras, surely that's all standard equipment on a new BMW, what else does it need apart from software? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted September 11, 2023 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gaz 1062 Report post Posted September 27, 2023 On 9/8/2023 at 2:55 PM, M3AN said: Good. It was a dumb and greedy proposition from the outset, I hope it cost them some long-term customer loyality. But the quotes above are also just marketing BS and misdirection... How are they doing parking assist without (pre)installed hardware? Liars. The system piggybanks off parking sensors, blind spot radars etc so no extra hardware required Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
