Why pay too much for heated seats, if you are cold only two months a year?
The Western world brings us habits that we did not even dream about a few years ago. In Western Europe, it is not uncommon for an individual or family to rent an apartment or house for their entire life. It is also quite usual for them to rent trailers, boats, bicycles, motorbikes and, of course, cars.
We are not just talking about financial leasing as you know it, where by paying the last monthly payment you become the owner of the real estate or a vehicle. Renting means that you will never own the house, apartment or car.
Ownership is, on one hand, a wonderful thing. It brings us security, the feeling that we have something and that we can leave something to our descendants. Long-term ownership, for example real estate, is cheaper than renting, since at least the brokerage commission and the maintenance service are not included in the calculation.
Renting, on the other hand, brings freedom. The freedom to use your savings for anything else. The freedom to move quickly to another, re-rented property or from an old to a new car. If the maintenance of the property or car is also included in the rent, you avoid unforeseen costs because they are paid by the owner. So, in this way, nothing can surprise you, because you know in advance how much something will cost you every month.
We do not claim that renting just everything is the best solution for individuals or companies. The decision is a matter of judgment and calculation.
In any case, renting opens another topic that digitization has brought to the world of the car. America's Tesla was the first to offer an on-demand service. Upgrade of the well-known partially automatic autonomous driving system Auto Pilot and some other functions in the car. This is possible because Teslas are connected to the web and the data is stored in the cloud. In this way, the software and various devices in the car can be managed and activated remotely.
There are other somewhat similar cases. The navigation map is mostly free, or its update costs around 100 euros per year. The same applies to Internet access in a car or something as banal as seat heating. Therefore, given the development of events, do not be surprised by the moves of BMW, which last month started offering seats heating for 17 euros per month or 170 per year. You can pay even 385 euros and have heating available at all times. Who is this service for? Certainly not for all buyers.
Buyers from southern Dalmatia will probably not think of any of these services. In Zagreb, it's probably nice to warm up the "back" when you get into the car in the morning. At least a month or two a year, or at least the whole year. Owners of rent a car companies will, for example, sell you heating for one euro per rental day.
This is just the beginning of the sale of services with which the auto industry will earn billions of euros within a decade. Such services will also ensure the revenue of the industry during the period of car use, but not only during sales and servicing. The customer on the other hand will certainly have countless customization options. If you need something in your car, you simply rent a function or service and pay a few euros for it.