Back in July, BMW announced that for its newer cars with the CarPlay option, customers who wanted to include the feature would have to pay an annual subscription to use it. This is unlike how other carmakers approach additional features in their cars, where it is usually a one-off fee to add extras.
Naturally, this did not sit well with many customers especially when you consider that you can add CarPlay through third-party units without paying a subscription. It turns out that BMW has also since rethought their process and has confirmed that they will now be eliminating the need for a subscription to use CarPlay.
In a statement made to Autoblog by the carmaker, it reads, “BMW is always looking to satisfy our customers’ needs and this policy change is intended to provide BMW owners with a better ownership experience.” It was odd that the company would be trying to adopt a subscription, even though the subscription model is all the rage these days.
However, it seems that BMW was the only carmaker who came up with the idea, meaning that they were pretty much alone in thinking that it was a good idea. That being said, we have to wonder about customers who have already paid and if they will be getting a refund for what they have paid so far.
Filed in . Read more about Bmw and Carplay. Source: autoblog