Author: Sarah Briton
BMW has been criticized for its membership subscription plan for heated seats.
In the early 2000s, Bethesda Softworks, a Maryland-based tech company, started squeezing extra money out of consumers who had bought the newest edition of The Elder Scrolls, one of its most successful franchises.
Unprotective shields cost $2.50, and gamers weren’t happy about it. The term “horse armor” has come to mean anything that is either completely pointless or ridiculously expensive as a download.
Even though this was controversial, gamers continued to purchase.
Regarding heated seats, BMW is taking a chance that the controversy will go down.
The winter is the only time to utilize a feature like a seat heating or to add it to a pre-owned BMW that didn’t come equipped with it.
There was some commotion because of a database error in South Korea, where new BMWs come equipped with seat heaters as a standard feature and hence wouldn’t need unlocking.
When drivers in the area received the option to subscribe to the functionality, they were naturally enraged.
According to the corporation, charges for services relying on the technology installed in the vehicle will remain. To warm their seats for a month in the UK, owners may pay £15 ($18), a year costs £150 ($250), and three years cost £250 ($350). For £350, you get unlimited seat heating.
BMW expects its digital solutions to bring in $5 billion in sales by the end of the decade, making it a significant income source for the company.
Drivers may try out products in the company’s ConnectedDrive shop before making a long-term purchase. Even for one-way excursions, the company foresees consumers being able to access entertainment or a more powerful engine.
BMW spokesperson Torsten Julich stated, “We know from our consumers that their mobility requirements are not as static as they used to be.”
However, the terrible publicity BMW has received demonstrates the dangers of launching new digital services without adequate explanation.
In the past, Tesla overcharged for driver-assistance systems that didn’t live up to expectations. However, there are many things that the electric-car manufacturer has done right.
As soon as you get in the driver’s seat, you’ll discover that your automobile has been upgraded free of charge. Some features have been ridiculous, like making fart sounds, while others have made a real difference.
Final Thoughts
BMW’s new program is a small milestone in the industry. But it’s unlikely that BMW or any of its competitors will be the first to develop a product offering that genuinely changes our relationship with auto dealers. That’ll take true disruption—the event that might change the way we imagine cars, like self-driving vehicles. And when that happens, BMW can decide whether it wants to oversee the purchase or continue to sell its heated seats on subscription.