Audi Basic HVAC "Sync" Function Paywalled

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Audi equips all vehicles with the optional tri-zone climate control feature with the necessary hardware. Customers who do not purchase the option at the time of sale still receive the hardware, but the feature is disabled via software. Enabling it later via a remote software update costs $758. Reminders prompting a purchase are displayed if a user presses the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) sync button before the feature is unlocked.

Background

Audi is an automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles based in Germany. Audi is a subsidiary company of Volkswagen.

Historically, if a vehicle owner opted out of purchasing a specific feature, any buttons associated with that feature would be replaced with blank plastic panels, often called "blank buttons." Pressing these blank buttons would not activate any functions or mechanisms within the vehicle.

However, Features on Demand (FoD) is becoming increasingly popular among car manufacturers. FoD features are subscription-type features, meaning they can only be enabled with a subscription.

Incident

An owner of an Audi Q4 E-Tron opted out of paying for tri-zone climate control, which is an optional add-on in regions outside of the U.S. and U.K., priced at $758. However, the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) “Sync” button was still physically present within the vehicle. Upon pressing the button, a message would appear on the infotainment screen, stating “the function has not been purchased.” The lack of a blank button, and message reminding the user of the unpaid feature has caused speculation on whether Audi was planning to introduce FoD features or not.

Audi's Response

While not explicitly responding to the incident, Oliver Hoffman, the head of the Technical Development division at the time, has suggested that FoD will appear more within the future, "With our next generation of electronic architecture, we will bring more offers to 'function on demand,' and you will see year by year we will bring new functions in the cars…A few years ago, there were ideas to generate more revenue on digitalization functions than by selling cars." Audi insists that the decision to pivot towards FoD was in response to consumer demand.

Consumer response

Some users on Reddit, in direct response to the incident, were fearful and frustrated about the possible future of the automotive industry. Many believed this would result in subscriptions being required to access most functions, imagining a reality where many of even the most basic features are locked behind paywalls.

Others were more generally opposed to features that are only available through subscriptions. In a survey conducted by the Cox Automotive, 58% of respondents stated that FoD, atleast initially, would be "too expensive," and 69% stated that if the features were only available via subscription, they would "shop elsewhere." However, only 21% were previously aware of FoD, and 65% believe that if free-trials for subscriptions were provided, they'd be more likely to consider a brand.