‘Eventually I won’t have a choice’: Car subscriptions for remote start and extra horsepower pile on top of a record $787 average payment

Automakers are increasingly charging subscriptions for vehicle features, but consumer willingness to pay for connected-car services fell to 68% in S&P Global Mobility’s 2025 study from 86% in 2024. BMW dropped its heated-seat subscription in September 2023 after backlash, while Volkswagen offers a UK ID.3 performance upgrade—27 additional horsepower—for £16.50 (about $22) per month. The trend creates recurring-revenue potential but risks weakening brand appeal, particularly when fees apply to hardware customers already bought; average financed new-car payments reached $787 per month in Q3 2026, up from $756 a year earlier.

Analysis

The key economic risk is not whether a few owners pay for an unlock; it is whether recurring fees reduce conversion, loyalty, or resale appeal enough to offset software revenue. These costs could be most damaging when they monetize hardware customers believe was included in the vehicle price: the fee may be small, but it can make the purchase feel worse and give competing brands a simple sales objection. Over time, feature locks could also complicate used-car comparisons if access depends on subscriptions or changes hands with the vehicle.

For BMW and Volkswagen, treat subscription upside as unproven optionality, not a basis for raising earnings estimates. Company feedback claims do not establish durable paid retention, incremental margin, or net customer value. The article gives no attach rates, cancellation data, or impact on repeat purchases; those are the figures to verify before underwriting material recurring revenue.

Near term, this is a weak standalone trading signal. Over 1–3 months, watch OEM commentary on paid-feature take rates, cancellations, and customer satisfaction. Over 6–18 months, the structural test is whether automakers can distinguish ongoing-service value from monetizing already-installed equipment. Consumer-protection rules may raise compliance and cancellation friction, but the cited New York policy is not evidence of a nationwide automotive mandate. A thesis that subscription monetization is working would be falsified by rising paid retention alongside stable brand consideration and repeat-buy intent; evidence of backlash would be stronger if those measures weaken or guidance attributes demand pressure to feature access.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Do not initiate a BMW or Volkswagen short solely on this story: the revenue contribution and customer-retention effects are unquantified, so the signal is not yet sufficient for a directional position.
• Put BMW and Volkswagen on an earnings-call watchlist. Seek paid-feature attach and renewal rates, cancellations, software revenue growth, and any disclosed changes in loyalty or repeat-purchase metrics; treat promotional claims without cohort data as non-incremental evidence.
• If subscription revenue is later presented as a material growth driver while renewal or customer-satisfaction measures deteriorate, consider a relative-value short in the OEM with weaker disclosed retention against a less exposed auto peer; size only after confirming comparable data and valuation.
• Track regulation and resale-market evidence as catalysts: broader restrictions on cancellation practices or customer resistance reflected in used-vehicle demand would strengthen the downside case; sustained renewal and no deterioration in brand metrics would weaken it.