BMW offers heated seat subscription in this country, costs $18 per month

BMW has started offering a subscription program for heated seats and steering wheels in South Korea. Under this program, BMW vehicle owners can avail facilities such as heated seats at a cost of $18 per month. Also, BMW owners can opt for a one-year plan for $176 or a three-year subscription plan for $283 as well. The subscription plan is quite similar to the downloadable content of video games.

The German luxury car manufacturer claims that this subscription of different creature comforts is available through the BMW ConnectedDrive Store, which is a portal used by existing owners to download a variety of apps. The automaker said that these features will be made available for the subscribers through over-the-air (OTA) updates.

The automaker further said that the heated seat subscription plan comes with a one-month test period free of charge. Also, in case someone opts for this feature permanently, he or she will have to shell out $406. The heated steering wheel subscription program is available at $10 per month, while costs for annual and three-year subscriptions are $92 and $161. It can be purchased permanently at $222. For Apple CarPlay, the plan costs $305. The subscription plan also offers other facilities such as a high-beam assistant, additional safety features, a camera-based driver recorder etc.

Automakers around the world have been exploring a wide range of options for revenue generation. Besides selling the vehicles and their components and different services, subscription services too are something, several automakers have started offering to the customers. However, subscription of different types of creature comforts to the existing vehicle owners through OTA update is a new business strategy, which BMW has taken. With a leading car brand like BMW already adopted this strategy, several other carmakers too are likely to follow the same path in near future.