General Motors is working hard to add features to its vehicles it hopes people will subscribe to. In all it hopes to introduce scores of new fee-based features by 2026, Reuters reports.
“We have 50-some value-added products and services that we’ll be rolling out over the next 36 to 48 months,” Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said at an investor conference.
The new services will enable passengers to shop online and could allow a car to predict when it will need maintenance, among other things. The new digital features will also take advantage of the larger screens being installed in GM’s new vehicles, like the GMC Hummer EV, the Cadillac Lyriq, and other future vehicles.
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“The bigger screens on our EVs will enable us to bring more of the data-oriented software products to the customers,” said Carlisle.
The new digital products will include in-vehicle subscription services and will be supported by GM’s Ultifi software and connectivity platform. The platform will also enable over-the-air software updates that allow almost any part of a vehicle to be updated.
“Increased flexibility and faster software development are two major benefits of this new technology,” Scott Miller, GM vice president Software-Defined Vehicle, said last fall. “Our in-house developers are designing Ultifi to maximize software reuse, which frees up more time to create value-adding features and services for our customers.”
Part of a plan announced by GM CEO Mary Barra last October to double the automaker’s annual revenue to around $280 billion by 2030, Carlisle said that it is considering flexible pricing options for a number of digital features. That will include monthly, annual, and lifetime subscription schemes.
OnStar, which now offers insurance in addition to its other services, currently generates around $32 per month per customer. Its enhanced Super Cruise driver assistance feature will help get that higher in the nearer term.
