Nota still believes it was a good idea.
Well, thats our problem.
Sounds like a solvable problem!
Because they didn’t get away with it like they expected to*
I wonder how multiple people ever agreed on this possibly working. Thought we resolved this in the sim-lock era with phones; people will hack it anyway.
My guess is they see the revenue subscription models bring in and they think so little of people they thought that was another way they could nickel and dime people
Whoever thought this was a good idea needs to be punched.
When you’re buying a car for tens of thousands, you don’t expect to be paying rent afterwards.
I feel like this is something they could have know before this project even got off the ground. I don’t know how this stuff makes it out the door.
Investors love subscription numbers because its consistent profit flow, so many publically traded companies are trying to find ways to turn anything into a subscription. When youre beholden to investors demands, this is the result.
Its why conpanies trying to remove car play/android auto needs to go away. All they want is users to uae their service and start charging you subscription fees themselves once you bought in.
They already have service on the engine and tires, as well as the revenue from financing and leasing. All that is consistent profit flow. Stuff like heated seats or CarPlay just feels cheap, especially since those are 1 time things.
Services can make sense for something that requires ongoing expenses from the provider to maintain, but that isn’t the case with heated seats. Remote start which is simply a button on the fob should be a 1 time thing. However, if the remote start is via an app, which also provides the ability for remote lock/unlock, setting the heat/AC, and various other things… that requires some back end infrastructure to work, which have monthly bills to pay. I get it. Of course, I think there are some brands which include that as part of the purchase price, at least for the first several years, which feels nicer. I’m sure customers are still paying for it, it’s just no an “extra” charge.
The software upgrades to unlock more power or better self-driving from the car are also stupid… the person already bought all the expensive bits, they’re just being artificially limited and it would cost the automaker nothing to make all the cars run at the upgraded speed from the factory.
Capitalism. If a bunch of number guys say it will make them rich, all other considerations go out the window.
Never forget that they would sell you the air you breathe if they could.
I totally see this coming - breathing tax. Companies will plant some trees on their ground to get public funding paid by these taxes. When the air gets thin some information will be leaked about the amount of trees being way smaller than claimed. It will be found they used artificial treetops to outsmart control by satellite systems to cover for the wood they sold to the wood industry.
I’d think the #1 rule would be not to piss off your customers in a market with a lot of other options. It’s not worth losing a car sale over $50, or whatever the subscription is.
BMW is positioned as a premium brand, and nothing feels less premium than getting nickeled and dimed on shit. My dad had a BMW years ago and I remember him saying there were no options, everything is already included… the idea being they weren’t going to sell you a shitty car just to make a lower price point. I think this hurts the brand image, which is worth a hell of a lot more than whatever dumb ass consultant came up with this idea.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t try.”
- Wayne Gretzky
— Micheal Scott
Thank fuck
