Audi plans innovative new options scam

[pimento]

I mean.. scheme.

When Audi says it is going to have apps available for download to its cars by the end of the decade, it doesn't mean an app like Bejeweled 2 – it means an app like heated seats. Taking the term "app" back to its more expansive origin in "software application," Audi plans to make cars upgradable after the purchase by allowing owners to download software that would activate hardware already installed in the car.

An evolution of the touchscreen introduced on the latest A8 would provide the user interface. Navigation, chassis, and audio software upgrades are mentioned as other possible uses of instant reconfigurability, but with all that's run on code nowadays we imagine almost every aspect of the car could be touched by the development. Along with making its products more adaptive "learning machines," having equipment pre-installed, even if not activated, would also streamline the build and could save the company money over the long term. It could also open open up an interesting opportunity for aftermarket hacking, but we digress...

Essentially, all the hardware will be the same but you'll pay to unlock access to the bits you want. Until someone finds a way to hack the system and unlock everything for free. I've seen this sort of thing in the IT industry.. it's something that can very easily spiral out of control and be abused.

Source: Autoblog.

[Niko_Fx]

What a stupid idea and waste of money. I bet you need a fair amount of customers buying "apps" to make this whole thing profitable.. what if no one buys sh*t and Audi already spent millions installing crap on the vehicles?

[wwgkd]

This is taking paying for crap you don't want on cars to an extreme.

[pimento]

Only now in theory you're not paying for it until you want to use it... except that the base cost of the car will have to incorporate some of the cost of the hardware anyway. So it's more like paying twice for the stuff you do want.

[PRC777]

Trying to turn the Audi A8 into some sort of "iCar"? This could also probably work with the TT, simply because its a cute, hairdresser's car. And I'm pretty sure they're going to end up putting Bejeweled 2 in there. Never say "never" with Audi.

[coolieman1220]

we have something similar now called Vag-Com

i still have to do ours.

[pimento]

we have something similar now called Vag-Com

i still have to do ours.

Vag-Com

i still have to do ours.

Vag-Com

Yea.. I.. what?

Vag-Com

Yea, but..

Vag-Com

[wwgkd]

Yea.. I.. what?



Yea, but..

haha. I was thinking it sounded like a porn expo or something, but google gave me this:

VAG-COM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[pimento]

I wasn't game to google it at work... what an awful thing to name something.

[coolieman1220]

lols.

yeah we joke a lot about it on the forums too

[Ferrer]

So, can I buy an A6 2.0 TDI and then later on download the twin turbo V10 from the RS6? Great!

On the other hand, it's not about paying for crap you don't want, it's getting all this in the first place, carrying the extra wait and cost around for no good reason. This must ruin the car.

Oh wait, it's Audi we're speaking about...

[wwgkd]

So, can I buy an A6 2.0 TDI and then later on download the twin turbo V10 from the RS6? Great!

On the other hand, it's not about paying for crap you don't want, it's getting all this in the first place, carrying the extra wait and cost around for no good reason. This must ruin the car.

Oh wait, it's Audi we're speaking about...

Hehe. Well, to be fair Ford's talking about doing the same. Oh wait...

[henk4]

So, can I buy an A6 2.0 TDI and then later on download the twin turbo V10 from the RS6? Great!

On the other hand, it's not about paying for crap you don't want, it's getting all this in the first place, carrying the extra wait and cost around for no good reason. This must ruin the car.

Oh wait, it's Audi we're speaking about...

ehm, in your opinion, is it possible to ruin what essential already is a ruin?

[Matra et Alpine]

As a manufacturer, it makes sense.

Seriously, it does

Yes, I know most of you have spluttered your coffee all over the screen of your PC but let me explain ...

First, clean up that coffee before it does damage
...

Let's say 60% of buyers purchase one example - lets take the heated seats example.
Till now there would be two seats to be manufactured, one with and one without a heating element. That likely involves 2 different sets of seat pads, so again another difference. Also two wiring looms, one with the switch and the connector and one without.

Now - gentle readers - as most of you will have leapt up and screamed "but the loom is the same in my Audi". So there is the first step in this little fun mental jaunt through possibilities. Audi ALREADY found it cheaper/simpler/quicker to manufacture ONE loom and everyone pays for it and "carries the extra weight" and we already accept it as the norm.

SO let's first go over that - still reading ??
WHY is a loom with mroe parts "cheaper" ?
First the extra cost isn't that high.
Next, Volume improves unit cost. First by increasing purchase power from parts suppliers. But - more importantly in most cases - by permitting full automation and less time spent by expensive people ( yes even in Chinese production lines, people are relatively expensive )
Then, at the production facility, less complexity in parts stocking. Only one loom, not two or three. That also means less MONEY is tied up in those parts. Stock is "dead money" for a manufacturing and they do everything to try to reduce it. Common parts is a VERY easy way to achieve that.

Second the manufacturing line system doesn't have to have a system to pick which loom goes into which vehicle build. So the line becomes less complex, less likely to error. ERROR on a production line is a HUGE expense, as it has to be tested for (QA) and then corrected. With no choices there are less QA steps and less time wasted and less "errors". As the latter phase involves PEOPLE, then clearly not having to do it is a possibly massive saving. Making production cheaper.

The customer order/delivery is also drastically simplified as there is no need to match up the needs of the custeomr at purchase time to the features built in to the cars sitting already built.

Local garage stocking for spare parts is reduced by half again.

Finally, garage parts upgrade sales are improved as with same loom it IS possible to add a heated seat after the initial purchase.

All of those benefits all at the root just costing a few pennies for a connector and a switch.

Now, heated seats ... all of the above applies. Just that now the trade-off of paying those extre more pennies for a heating element come into the equation. BUT, even more so, the more options you can remove at PRODUCTION STAGE enables much lower cost, more efficient manufacturing.
So it's going to work for heated seats ... but not going to work for V6 or straight 4 engine choice

So, back to the 60%. THere will always be a break-even point for concepts like this. If it costs £10 for the heated element then over a thousand cars it "cost" £4000 to put in a part not required - at order time. If they got a 25% discount by increasing the order numbers for the heated element and reduced stocking on an item that say had 1% time-value-of-money ( high I know but can't be arsed getting TOO accurate follow the concept please ) and reduced production line space by 1% and removed 5% of non-automated line. With me ?

So old style costs
£7000 ( £6000 plus say £1000 for all the "build out stuff" )
"new" style would be
£7500 ( thousand cars with 25% volume discount )

So not so silly a move.

( oh and yes I KNOW you can drive a truck through the numbers nad percentages, but in principle this is how we look at production planning and if Audi decided it's a "good idea" then there numbers must have worked out on the positive )

[pimento]

Well yea, things like that make sense financially else they wouldn't do it. It is a little galling though to think that there's heated seats there that you can't use unless you input your credit card number on the touch screen provided though.