There’s a rule of thumb in the automotive industry – a car gets redesigned every four-to-six years, with a few design tweaks coming at the halfway point. That cycle influences the price you can expect to pay. Among other factors, a redesign drives down the cost of the last examples of the old model sitting on dealership lots and hurts the value of used cars that no longer resemble the current design. But those old rules of thumb are changing.
Ford, for instance, expects to begin redesigning its models less frequently. What will stretch out the life of current designs? Software updates.
Hau Thai-Tang, the company’s head of product development and purchasing, explains, “I think we now have the ability to make the vehicle physically better for the customer with these OTA [over-the-air] updates, and that’s something that’s game-changing in terms of the business model.”
F-150 is first Ford with OTA updates
The new Ford F-150, America’s best-selling vehicle starting at $28,745, is the first Ford capable of downloading upgrades. The idea isn’t theoretical. Today, you can buy an F-150 with a feature that doesn’t exist yet. Ford’s Active Drive Assist – a hands-free driving system – is on the list of options buyers can choose now for downloads next fall when designers have it ready for the public.
Over-the-air software updates can even change the performance of your car. Tesla, for instance, used a download to improve the braking distance of its Model 3 after reviewers complained that it needed improvement.
Downloading changes to your car will become a typical experience for drivers over the next few years. Some companies have even discussed plans to let owners add new features to their vehicles on-the-fly, unlocking them with an app and a fee.
Visions of a world in which used car shoppers care less about the model year of a car than about what version of the operating system it’s running may be a bit premature. But that day is coming. The automaker behind the most popular vehicle in America plans to stretch out the life of its designs with software updates.
