The owner of the Great Wall Haval F7 said that the standard "remote control function" requires a paid package to use.

The relevant person in charge of the Haval brand public relations department told reporters that a solution will be given in the near future.

The picture shows a Haval 4S store in Beijing.

  "The remote control function is standard in the configuration table on the official website, but I can't use it for a year, and I need to pay to use it." Recently, Wang Mingzhe, the owner of the Great Wall Haval F7 in Handan, Hebei, explained his experience to reporters.

  Wang Mingzhe told reporters that he was not told that the standard remote control function has a "trial" period.

Today, this feature requires him to renew every year to use it.

The remote control is bundled into the package, and it will be "locked" without renewal

  In August 2020, Wang Mingzhe purchased a 2020 Haval F7 i Fan Edition. After using the remote control for a year, he suddenly found that the function could not be used.

Since the remote control requires the use of the Haval Smart Home App, Wang Mingzhe saw on the App that the relevant service package has expired, and the renewal fee of 398 yuan can be extended for one year.

In order not to delay the normal use of the car, he purchased a one-year package.

  In August of this year, the one-year paid subscription package reached the renewal period again, and Wang Mingzhe felt annoyed and helpless.

If you don't renew the fee, the remote control function will be locked; if you renew the fee, you will spend another 398 yuan to buy a one-year car networking package, and most of the functions are not needed.

  The reporter found in the Haval Smart Home App that Haval Internet of Vehicles services include basic services (free for life), exclusive services (security monitoring, road assistance, remote control, exclusive seats, personalized intelligence, driving steward, life services) and enjoy listening service (online music).

"Remote Control" has been classified as a premium service.

  The reporter found in the official configuration table of Haval F7 i Fan Edition that under the category of "multimedia configuration", the Telematics (remote control) function is "standard configuration".

In the configuration table, the related expressions such as "trial period", "free usage period" and "overdue charge" cannot be found for the remote control functions.

  Wang Mingzhe told reporters: "When I bought a car, the 4S store didn't tell me that the remote control could only be used for one year for free. When the function was disabled last year, the 4S store told me that the standard remote control belongs to the Internet of Vehicles function. Haval's Internet of Vehicles functions can only be used for a fee."

  A salesperson of Beijing Huijing Detong franchise store told reporters: "Remote control requires traffic, and you need to pay to use it after the free use period. Since the old Haval F7 has been discontinued, I don't know the specific free use time. , the Haval Smart Home App shall prevail.”

  The reporter called the customer service number of Haval Car IoV. The customer service staff said: "The configuration of each car is different, and the free use period of related functions is also different. You need to provide the vehicle identification code to query. At present, we do not have the remote control function for free for life. related policies.”

  Wei brand, another brand of Great Wall Motors, is another case.

Su Tong, the owner of 19 Wei brand VV5 super-luxury models, told reporters: "Wei brand remote control function is standard. Later, many riders found that this function can only be used by paying, so we reflected this situation in the App. Recently I found that this feature is already available for free."

  The reporter learned that on July 22, Wei Pai released the "Instructions on the Adjustment of Wei Pai IoV Subscription Service" in the official App.

The description mentions: Redesign the three types of car networking services, entertainment services and traffic services, and split them into two categories: car control service packages and smart entertainment traffic service packages.

  Among them, the car control service package, including remote car control, security monitoring, etc., was launched on August 1, officially free for users, and different forms of compensation for users who have subscribed to the original exclusive service package.

  "Both Haval and Wei brand remote control are standard. I only hope that Great Wall Motors will not treat car owners differently by brand, so that Haval's remote control function can also be used for free." Wang Mingzhe said.

  As for why Haval's standard remote control has a "free trial period", why it must be bundled with the Internet of Vehicles package to use it, and whether it can be split into free functions like the Wei brand, the relevant person in charge of the public relations department of the Great Wall Haval brand told reporters Said: "Haval brand has paid attention to this sudden outbreak of demand, and has launched a response mechanism internally, and is conducting multi-department coordination to solve users' needs for the use of the Internet of Vehicles as soon as possible. In the near future, we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer. ."

For "paid unlocking", consumers can protect their rights in accordance with the law

  A number of car owners told reporters that if they could experience the latest functions by upgrading the software to solve problems such as delays and freezes in the car system, they would be happy to spend money on it.

If it is a configuration that they have when they buy a car, but later they are told that they need to spend money to use it, it is difficult for them to accept.

  Attorney Zhu Xia of Beijing Zhongwen (Wuhan) Law Firm believes that if car companies do not specify in the contract which functions need to be paid for, and forcibly bundle standard functions into paid packages, it is suspected of violating the "Consumer Rights and Interests". Protection Law, which violates consumers' right to know, right to choose, and right to fair trade.

  Article 9 of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law" stipulates that consumers have the right to independently choose operators who provide commodities or services, independently choose commodity varieties or service methods, independently decide to purchase or not to purchase any kind of commodity, to accept or not to accept any kind of commodity. A service; Article 10 stipulates that when consumers purchase goods or receive services, they have the right to obtain fair trading conditions such as quality assurance, reasonable price, and correct measurement, and have the right to refuse the operator's compulsory transaction behavior.

  Zhu Xia said: "Consumers have already obtained all the standard functions of the vehicle after paying for the car. If car companies use this function as a function that can only be used after payment, it will limit consumers' control and use of vehicles and violate consumption. In addition, based on the legal relationship of the contract, the functions of the vehicle should be complete and continuous. The behavior of the car company is also unilaterally changing the contract content and terminating related services without authorization, which constitutes a civil breach of contract.”

  Article 10 of the "Measures for the Administration of Automobile Sales" stipulates that dealers shall expressly sell the price of automobiles, accessories and other related products and the charging standards for various services in the business premises in an appropriate form, and shall not sell at a higher price or charge additional fees in addition to the listed price.

  Zhu Xia said that car companies should clarify the functions of the car in the contract and attachments, as well as basic information such as which functions are included in the price of the goods, and which functions need to be paid for use, otherwise it will violate the consumer's right to know.

  "In the face of such behavior of car companies, in addition to communicating and negotiating solutions with car companies, consumers can also protect their legitimate rights and interests through legal channels." He told reporters, including requesting consumer associations to complain about rights protection, and complaining to relevant administrative departments. And according to the arbitration agreement reached with the operator, it can be submitted to an arbitration institution for arbitration, and a lawsuit can also be filed in the people's court.

  Zhu Xia suggested that relevant competent authorities, consumer rights protection organizations, and industry autonomous organizations should supervise the behavior of car companies, requiring car companies to clearly inform the restrictions on relevant functions and subsequent payment in the sales contract, and regulate the charging behavior of car companies; at the same time The boundaries between basic vehicle functions and value-added services should also be clarified. Car companies cannot arbitrarily expand the scope of paid unlocking, but should be limited to continuously updated and value-added services such as software services to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and maintain a good market environment. .

Paid car subscriptions are a growing trend, but need to be open and transparent

  As early as 2016, Tesla launched paid subscription services for software such as fully autonomous driving and seat heating. All factory models have pre-embedded autonomous driving hardware, and consumers can choose whether to enable this function according to their own needs.

In 2021, Tesla's autopilot monthly payment will officially start at $199 per month.

  As of the second quarter of 2022, more than 100,000 Tesla owners in North America are using the fully self-driving beta feature.

According to the 2021 financial report, Tesla’s services and other businesses, including autonomous driving software, achieved revenue of $3.802 billion, a year-on-year increase of 65%, accounting for 7.06% of total revenue.

  Today, the automotive industry has entered the era of "software-defined cars", and major car companies are competing fiercely on the track of intelligent networking and autonomous driving, accelerating the transition from "selling hardware" to "selling software".

Software charges and subscription unlocking are gradually increasing the cost of car use for consumers.

  An industry insider said that the business model of traditional car companies centered on car hardware sales is far from being able to meet the more diverse and complex travel needs of car users.

If you only focus on hardware, companies will not be able to survive in the future market competition.

"After years of development in automotive hardware, there is not much room for improvement. The price is relatively transparent, and it is difficult to do more in hardware. Therefore, many car companies seek breakthroughs in software payment."

  Zhang Xiang, dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, believes that paid subscription is the development trend of smart cars in the future.

"Traditional cars are produced according to the configuration, and the manufacturing process is different, which will increase the time cost and manufacturing cost. If it is in the form of paid subscription, all cars have the same configuration, and users can activate the required functions according to their own needs. It will greatly reduce the manufacturing cost of car companies, and it will be more humane for consumers.”

  However, car companies have also exposed some problems in the process of promoting paid subscriptions.

On the one hand, some sales staff did not fulfill the obligation of truthful disclosure when consumers purchased cars.

A car owner said frankly: "When looking at the car to communicate, the sales staff did not take the initiative to inform the hardware pre-embedded and paid subscriptions, so when suddenly learned that you need to spend money to use the relevant functions, it is inevitable that there will be resistance."

  On the other hand, paid subscriptions have a variety of features and user acceptance levels.

Not long ago, some brands have raised public doubts by implementing paid subscription services such as rear-wheel steering, seat heating, and steering wheel heating.

  It is worth noting that the new charging model for software launched by car companies to improve vehicle functions and performance is very different from the traditional charging model for purchasing optional parts.

Whether this new model is reasonable is also open to debate.

  Senior auto industry expert Zhong Shi believes that judging whether the charging model is reasonable should be based on the seller's service content and whether the information disclosure is open and transparent, rather than based on inherent consumption habits and traditional concepts.

  "In traditional car consumption, some functions and performance enhancements are expressed in the form of optional parts. After consumers choose, the car is installed in the production process; now the car has leaped to the stage of combining software and hardware, and some hardware can play a role. The realization of functions and performance depends on car companies and dealers using the network to remotely 'unlock' to consumers who pay for them separately. This new charging model is easy to cause controversy." Zhong Shi said.

Clarify the boundaries of paid subscriptions, and user acceptance is the test scale

  Yang Xiaolin, an automobile media person and an analyst in the automobile industry, believes that the functions of paid subscriptions are different, and the acceptance of users is also different.

"For example, for more advanced autonomous driving, it is not a just-needed configuration at present. It is to provide a small number of users with higher-level autonomous driving needs, and the experience for users is an upgrade of experience, so it will not be disgusted by users. Remote control, etc. The configuration is just needed and should not be charged in this way.”

  Zhang Xiang said that no matter what the paid item is, user acceptance is the test yardstick.

"For example, some entertainment functions, or seat heating that differs greatly in different regions, can be used by monthly, quarterly or even annual payments, which seems to be more in line with the actual use of users. When setting car prices, it is also necessary to Taking these factors into account, you can't reduce the value of the car after adding daily charging features."

  Yang Xiaolin said that car companies have great obstacles in user experience and user communication.

"When traditional car companies learn or promote paid subscription functions from new power companies, they should communicate with users in advance, rather than simply and rudely implement decisions, so that users are forced to accept this kind of gameplay."

  "It is estimated that there is a successful precedent for paid subscriptions, so various car companies have explored their own profit models. It is understandable to upgrade the software to obtain a better car experience by paying, but the key is that the cost of pre-embedded hardware cannot be borne by consumers. , the standard functions should be used for free." Mr. Wang, the owner of Toyota, said that seat heating and remote control are not advanced configurations, and car companies should not "cut leeks" on this.

  In Yang Xiaolin's view, car companies are in a trial-and-error stage in terms of product and user experience, and they need to define the paid experience based on the user's thinking, according to the actual usage scenario, and think deeply about the function.

In the future, paid subscriptions will be a new profit point for auto companies.

Bringing personalized and differentiated services to consumers through software iterative upgrades and paid services must be based on what users think are worthwhile.

  Zhong Shi believes that the car is entering the era of "hardware + software", but no matter how software defines a car, it is necessary to understand the difference between standard configuration and paid "unlocking".

  "Currently, car companies are in their infancy in the exploration of paid subscription models. In the long run, the continuous upgrading of software functions can bring more profits to the company." Zhong Shi said, if some car companies 'package' basic functions into Paid subscriptions will eventually lose the trust of consumers.

  (At the request of the interviewee, Wang Mingzhe and Su Tong are pseudonyms in the text)

  Wang Zhiyuan, a trainee reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily. Source: China Youth Daily