Functions on Demand: a modern approach to individualization

With Functions on Demand, additional features can be booked flexibly as needed and after vehicle purchase. About the functions available today and what could be possible in the future.

Copy: Nadia Riaz-Ahmed - Photo: AUDI AG Reading Time: 3 min

A smartphone screen shows the booking process of Functions on Demand.

The myAudi app enables Audi customers to purchase additional features from areas such as infotainment, connect, lighting, technology, comfort and driver assistance even after purchasing the vehicle.

With its human-centric approach, Audi puts people at the center. Digitization offers new opportunities - including Functions on Demand. Audi is responding to the changing needs of customers in their various life situations with a digital offering. Audi customers can already book selected equipment for certain models^* after purchasing their vehicle - quite simply via the myAudi app^* or on the myAudi portal. New hardware functions are activated directly after the booking is completed and the vehicle is restarted, without the need for a visit to the workshop.

Navigation, smartphone interface, light function package or various assistance systems - customers decide for themselves how long they want to use the new function. Each function can initially be tested at a discount for one month, after which various runtime models are available. The functions that can be booked depending on the vehicle model and market. In the Audi Q4 e-tron, for example, customers can upgrade the standard single-zone to dual-zone air conditioning, among other things. In the Audi e-tron and the Audi e-tron Sportback, the LED headlights can be upgraded to matrix LED headlights with automatic high beam when booked.

“Automated driving will be a game changer.”

Benjamin Schliewe is Product Marketing Manager for Functions on Demand at Audi. He knows how digital services will help shape the mobility of the future.

Mr. Schliewe, Functions on Demand currently refer primarily to hardware functions: What can we expect in the future?
We see the growing need of our customers for carefree use instead of ownership. The focus of Functions on Demand is on individual needs, enabling flexible activation of more and more features that our customers can then use to suit their lifestyle. In the future, the vehicle will become a living space. The aim is to offer customers features that support precisely this. Important areas here are, for example, relaxation, entertainment, and well-being. I can therefore imagine that in the future our range of products will include not only hardware equipment but also other entertainment features such as games or office functions, as well as new technologies such as automated driving functions. Automated driving will be a game changer, particularly for longer journeys, enabling drivers to enjoy more relaxed mobility and giving them a whole new level of freedom.

How will increasing digitization influence mobility in the future in general?
The mobility of the future will be networked on a fundamental level. The customer experience and the networking of transport ecosystems will become increasingly crucial. Until now, much of the focus has been purely on the interaction between the vehicle and those driving it. These ecosystems will become more holistic. For mobility as a whole, network and intelligent transport systems could help improve traffic flow and make journeys more efficient in the future.

What would you personally like to see?
I associate mobility with experiences and the time you spend with people who are important to you. And I believe that automated driving will fundamentally change the mobility of the future in this direction. The current Audi concept cars already show a vision of the mobility of the future and how the car could become a place for individual experiences - which can then also be permanently or flexibly expanded to suit personal interests thanks to Functions on Demand.