4998 yuan a year!Mercedes -Benz's payment unlocking function is questioned charged charges

Recently, Mercedes-Benz launched a "paid unlocking project" and caused public doubts.

Mercedes -Benz ’s official WeChat public account published a message saying that some models can pay 4998 yuan to enjoy the rotation steering function after one year. After purchasing the project, the owner can unlock the rear wheels to turn the angle of 10 degrees.

After the news was released, some netizens believed that some netizens believed that the original hardware on the car had to spend money to unlock the use. Will it launch functions such as "shorter brake distance" to charge? In this regard, the reporter conducted an investigation.

1. Official micro article: free trial for 3 months for free

Does the payment unlocking function really have this service? The reporter went to the official website of Mercedes Benz for inquiries. On the configuration menu of related models, I did not see information about the rear wheels to pay.

The reporter consulted through the "Customer Care Hotline" on the official website. The staff said that the customer service center did not master the rear wheel steering function of the EQS 450+ model consulted by the reporter. He said that he could transfer the phone to the Mercedes -Benz Internet store for inquiries and confirmation, but did not connect after the call.

The staff member then said that he had consulted the relevant situation of colleagues in the interconnected store, and the other party said that he did not have the relevant information about the function that the function was required. If there was a related information update, it would be displayed through the relevant page.

On the WeChat service number published by the Mercedes -Benz official website, the reporter found that the relevant content named "4.5 °, and now it can be 10 °" published on June 29 has related content.

The article said that through this project, the "EQS450+Pioneer version rear wheels can actively turn from 4.5 ° to 10 °, and the turning diameter is only 10.9 meters." For 4998 yuan a year, you can enjoy a free trial experience for 3 months. After entering the "Mercedes ME Store" from the public account article, the recommended product can be seen to see the rear wheel active steering system (10 degrees steering angle).

Mercedes -Benz published an article on the official website to explain this toll service in detail. /Screenshot of Mercedes -Benz official website

2. This charging model is not the first of Mercedes -Benz

The service of Mercedes -Benz's charging unlocking function has triggered a lively discussion on the Internet. Some netizens said that this is like a game manufacturer divided the game into "ontology" and "DLC (the follow -up content added after the game is added, usually paying the game needs to be purchased again)"; "".

Some netizens even suggested that this seems to allow users to share the cost that has nothing to do with themselves. Consumers bought hardware when they bought a car, but the official did not unlock the function. It would cost a software money to unlock in the later period, which is too unfriendly to consumers.

The reporter also learned that in fact, such a charging model is not the first of Mercedes -Benz. On December 3, 2021, Tesla announced that the OTA upgrade service (vehicle computer software upgrade) was adjusted to the "Cold Kit" OTA upgrade service. The Model 3 car owner heated in the rear seats can upgrade after -sales payment at a price of 2,400 yuan.

On May 9 this year, Tesla announced that after the OTA service, the Model 3 long battery life full -wheel drive version can be increased from 4.6S to 4.1S, and the overall gymnastics will also be improved, but this time Upgrade requires 14100 yuan to complete.

The reporter found an article "2020 Tesla Special Research: 2020 Tesla Special Research: Honeycomb Network and OTA Paid Business Models and how to price cellular networks and OTA". The article mentioned that the value of OTA consists of two parts, one is that the price difference between the price reduction of the old car is due to the launch of the new car. The second is to reduce the loss of partial performance in the natural depreciation of the vehicle. It is estimated that OTA brings the value of 7,200 yuan in bicycle. The value of OTA upgrades can bring changes to the profit model of car companies.

Many netizens said they were unacceptable. /network

3. The lawyer said: OTA upgrade charges need to be supervised

So, use the later OTA upgrade to collect fees, and even the long -term "subscription model", is there any problem with laws and regulations? The upstream journalist consulted Lawyer Lin Yucheng of the Chongqing Gongxiao Law Firm. Lin Yocheng said that he learned that after the occurrence of OTA charges, the main reasons for the selection and upgrading of the subscribed options are mainly the following:

First, there was no such technology at that time. Later, in order to improve the quality of your products and increase this service;

The second is that the technology is mature when leaving the factory, but the price increases during sales, the car price will rise, which will cause difficulty in selling, so it will not be provided for the time being;

Third, according to the needs of competition, car companies need to launch new technologies to facilitate competition, but it is impossible to be free; so according to the needs of car owners, voluntarily choose this new service.

Lawyer Lin Yucheng said that there are possible legal flaws in this OTA toll service and need to be supervised according to law:

First, when the car company sells vehicles, it should tell consumers what new functions in this car, why they are not unlocked and the cost of unlocking, so that consumers will make more prudent consumption decisions. A category;

Second, should the unlocking service function incorporated into the toll project should be free? Does it involve the basic functions and use of the vehicle? This cannot make car companies unilaterally forget; third, the charges of unlocking new features cannot be failed to lose fairness. Because consumers have purchased the vehicle and know that they can unlock this new feature, then he is forced to accept the pricing of car companies as long as he wants to use. The pricing power cannot be unilaterally determined by the car company. Consumers should have the right to choose;

Fourth, it is necessary to prevent car companies from abusing this right, allowing consumers to accept services in the future unlocking consumption in the future.

Fifth, the consumer rights protection organization shall supervise the pricing of the unlocking services of these car companies, and then supervise whether the consumer's right to know and fair trading in the entire service process.

Lin Yocheng said that the new service of automobile enterprises shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and shall not increase hidden safety hazards. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Intelligent Connected Automobile Production Enterprises and Products", which mentioned that "the enterprise should implement the main responsibility and strengthen the car data security, network security, software upgrades, functional security and expected functional security management. Ensure the quality of the product.

Source: Upstream News

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