Buying a car used to be a simple transaction: you paid for the vehicle, drove it off the lot, and owned everything inside it.
Today, modern cars are evolving into connected computers on wheels, powered by software that can be updated over the air - and locked behind monthly paywalls.
From subscription-based heated seats to constant location tracking, automakers are shifting from traditional car sales to continuous digital services.
While this brings unprecedented convenience and remote upgrades, it also forces drivers to confront a tricky new reality: you may own the metal, but you are only renting permission to use its full potential.
Modern cars are increasingly becoming a computer on wheels, and it’s more than having a large touchscreen infotainment system.
Manufacturers are building cars around software that can be updated remotely, adding new functions after the vehicle has left the showroom and, increasingly, charging owners for access to features that exist in the car but are activated digitally.
So it means we are moving towards a future where we don't just buy a car, but subscribe to parts of it.
Your car can already change after you buy it
Software-defined vehicles are designed so that much of a car's functionality can be controlled by software rather than being permanently fixed when it leaves the factory.
Volkswagen Group, for example, is investing heavily in software-defined vehicles and developing new electronic and software architecture intended to support digital services, infotainment and future vehicle functions.
There is an advantage for motorists, though.
Instead of taking your car to a dealer every time something needs improving, the manufacturer can potentially send an Over the Air (OTA) update.
The navigation can be improved, the driver-assistance system can be updated, or the infotainment system can gain new functions.
In theory, the car you own on Monday could be slightly different from the one you owned the day before.
It is already happening in South Africa
This isn't a Silicon Valley idea waiting to arrive here.
BMW South Africa has a ConnectedDrive Store where owners can access a range of digital services and packages. Depending on the vehicle, these can include navigation, information, comfort functions, entertainment and personalisation.
BMW's My BMW App also allows owners to interact with their vehicles remotely, while compatible cars can receive OTA updates without necessarily requiring a trip to the dealership.
BMW has already tested the more controversial side of this locally.
In 2022, they introduced subscription-based in-car features, including heated seats.
The vehicle could have the necessary hardware installed, but the owner had to pay to activate the function. Following intense customer backlash globally, this was stopped.
People are generally comfortable paying for a service, but they are less enthusiastic about paying again for something they believe they have already bought.
Mercedes-Benz is taking a similar approach with its Digital Extras.
In South Africa, these include services covering areas such as remote access, navigation, charging and entertainment. Many are initially included for a defined period, with renewal for a fee possible afterwards.
That may seem like a small change, but it represents a significant shift in the traditional relationship between car and owner.
If you buy a Mercedes-Benz today with certain connected services included for three years, the car doesn't suddenly stop working when that period expires, but some of its digital capabilities may become dependent on another payment.
Volkswagen is also moving motorists further into this connected environment.
Its South African models offer App-Connect, allowing drivers to bring smartphone functions such as music and navigation into the vehicle's infotainment system, while software updates can keep vehicle systems current.
It doesn’t mean South African motorists are about to start paying monthly subscriptions simply to turn on their headlights.
But it does show that the basic principle is already established.
The subscription has arrived
This has become a standard global practice with many manufacturers.
Ford's BlueCruise allows compatible vehicles to drive hands-free on approved roads while monitoring the driver's attention. Ford has made the system available through a subscription in some markets following an initial trial period.
General Motors has taken a similar approach with Super Cruise, its hands-free driving system.
Tesla has probably gone furthest.
Its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system is increasingly being offered as a monthly subscription rather than simply as an expensive upfront option in markets where it is available.
You are no longer necessarily paying only for the car, but you may be paying for permission to use its full capability.
Paying for the ability to drive differently
The argument for subscriptions becomes more convincing when the feature genuinely depends on continuing software development and connectivity.
If you buy a car with hardware capable of doing something that isn't yet available because the software isn't ready, instead of replacing it, the manufacturer could potentially activate the function later.
It also allows a manufacturer to fix bugs, improve efficiency or enhance the infotainment system without requiring an appointment at a dealership.
For an electric car, software updates could potentially improve energy management, charging behaviour or route planning.
The software-defined car looks less like a traditional vehicle and more like a smartphone because your phone isn't finished evolving when you take it out of the box.
But who owns what?
This is where things get interesting for consumers.
If you buy a car with hardware capable of a particular function, but that function requires a monthly payment, do you own the feature?
If you stop paying, the feature disappears.
The car remains yours, but your access to some of its capabilities does not.
Also, what happens when the car gets old?
A traditional mechanical feature doesn't generally disappear because a manufacturer's server has been switched off, but a digital feature potentially can.
That raises questions about long-term ownership, used-car values and what happens to connected services when a manufacturer changes its business model.
Your car knows more about you than you think
There is another issue that comes with turning the car into a connected computer, and it has little to do with monthly subscriptions and everything to do with privacy.
Once a car is permanently connected to the internet, it can generate an enormous amount of information about its owner and how the vehicle is used.
BMW South Africa's privacy statement refers to vehicle telematics data that can include location information, vehicle tracking, usage frequency, fuel consumption, battery and tyre information and servicing requirements.
Depending on the service, Porsche's connected services data can include the vehicle's current location, speed, direction of travel, navigation destinations and routes, as well as trip length, duration, average speed and energy consumption.
In other words, your car can potentially know where you went for lunch, how long you stayed, what route you took home and how you drove along the way.
That isn't necessarily sinister. Much of the information is needed to make connected navigation, emergency assistance, vehicle tracking and driver-assistance systems work.
Manufacturers also have legitimate reasons for using anonymised or aggregated data to improve their vehicles and software.
But it does change the relationship between driver and car.
A traditional car doesn’t know where you have been, but a connected car can potentially record and transmit information about your journeys as part of the services you have chosen to use.
There is a more complicated layer as cars become increasingly reliant on cameras, microphones and sensors.
BMW, for example, says certain vehicles can collect selected, event-triggered video recordings from exterior cameras, together with sensor information such as location, to help develop assisted and automated driving technology.
South African motorists do have some protection though.
The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) governs the processing of personal information, and manufacturers operating here have privacy policies setting out how customer and vehicle data is handled.
Do we know what we are agreeing to?
Most people will happily accept a connected service if it means finding their car in a crowded shopping-centre car park, remotely checking its status or having better navigation. Few are likely to spend an afternoon reading a lengthy privacy policy before pressing “accept”.
The connected car therefore creates a new trade-off.
We get convenience, safety and increasingly sophisticated technology, but in return we may be giving manufacturers access to considerably more information about our driving lives than previous generations ever did.
The mechanic who serviced your car for 20 years might have known when the oil needed changing.
Your new car knows considerably more.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za