So You've Been Publicly Shamed is a best-selling book exploring the causes and impacts of social media pile-ons. This very modern- day phenomenon is not dissimilar to a medieval turn in the stocks but with a global army at its disposal, hurling derision rather than rotten veg. In essence, social media users decide you’ve said or done the wrong thing and it snowballs from there, sometimes (but not always) regardless of the nuances of the situation.
Depending how the next months and years go, BMW might have cause to reflect on its narrative given the reaction to its announcement that it will offer certain upgrades to its cars in exchange for monthly payments in future. Heated seats? £15 a month. Heated steering wheel? £10 a month. Adaptive cruise control? £35 a month. The list goes on.
The internet has not reacted well, the snowball turning into an avalanche as the news spread and people asked incredulously why they should pay a recurring fee to switch on technology that is already fitted to their car. BMW has been lampooned. However – communications possibly aside – I’m not sure the backlash is justified.
To my mind, the key detail that has been missed in the furore is that you can still buy all these functions for a one-off payment (or more likely on top of your monthly lease), just as you have always been able to. In that regard, nothing has changed; the tick-boxes are still there on the option sheet, and a quick glance suggests they are no more (or less) expensive than they have always been.
I get the frustration of paying for a car that is capable of doing more, but only if you hand over an extra fee for it. But in many regards that’s been the case for years, from car makers fitting inoperable screens through to lower- spec models featuring many a blanking cover in years gone by. Cars have never been created equally – until, perhaps, now.
The change means that in cold winter months, a BMW owner can pay a small fee to warm up. If someone builds a new road, they can update their mapping from home. And if they are making a once-a-year cross-continent drive, they can opt for the adaptive cruise control and dynamic suspension.
What’s more, the next owner and the one after that and so on can do the same. Everyone benefits, because there’s no more getting beaten down at trade-in time because you didn’t spec the sat-nav; the next owner can just pay extra to have it switched on.
Yes, I have no doubt that BMW has done the maths and worked out it can make more money this way, both by reducing manufacturing complexity and through the ongoing income. But capitalism isn’t a crime, and if customers have more options available and no more cost, what’s not to love?
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