Heated Debate: BMW's Update on Seat Warmer Subscriptions

M.C. Millman

After much backlash, BMW has decided against rolling out their subscription for heated seats. 

The subscription would have required customers to pay for a feature already fitted to their car. BMW claims their subscription was to the customer's advantage, as it would allow more flexibility for customers to pay for certain functions only when wanted. Customers did not see it this way. 

There was a very low customer uptake for the heated seats subscription. The main disapproval of this plan was that the heated seats were already installed at the factory.  

BMW's board member for sales and marketing, Pieter Nota, said the company would not offer subscriptions to activate hardware already fitted to the vehicle. 

According to Autocar, Nota shared BMW's plans to offer subscriptions for software-based functions instead. "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."