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I rented an Audi Q7 for a week recently. The drive quality of the car is excellent. But the software is terrible. Just getting CarPlay to work every time is a c

I rented an Audi Q7 for a week recently. The drive quality of the car is excellent. But the software is terrible. Just getting CarPlay to work every time is a challenge. I will not be buying an Audi any time soon. As more and more of the vehicle's experience becomes software controlled, manufacturers who don't have good software development teams are going to lose out. German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software, and they are happy to collectively develop the software [1] as opposed to seeing software as a key differentiator. [1] https://www.electrive.com/2025/06/25/automotive-industry-launches-alliance-for-software-development/ https://www.electrive.com/2025/06/25/automotive-industry-lau...

AlexandrB 1y ago
Software is indeed a differentiator, as in I want as little as possible of that shit in my car. Any car where all the controls are on a giant iPad in the middle are a non-starter for me.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  Physical goods companies just don't get software, and they never seem to be able to do it right. They treat firmware and software like just another line item on the BOM. Like a screw or a silicon gasket: Source it from a cheap supplier, spoon it into the product somewhere on the assembly line, and then never touch it again. As long as it meets a list of checkbox requirements, the quality doesn't matter at all. A car company that obsesses over how nicely the exterior panels fit together will, on the other hand, not even care whether icons and text are aligned on their software.
  - FredPret 1y ago
    The other day I saw a meat thermometer with no readout, only an app. No! A good app is more expensive than a good thermometer readout, and will break much sooner. I'll pay a premium for no-tech products.
  - nunez 1y ago
    Yup. Case in point: any time the rear view camera comes on in a car commercial. Beatufiul car, awesome interior...potato-quality backup camera.
  - AlexandrB 1y ago
    While you're right that car companies are not good at software, this is almost a blessing at this point. Imagine if they had the software talent of a Google or Microsoft and used it to implement the same fucking awful "enshittification" business models.
- breadwinner 1y ago
  Software is not an alternative to physical controls. You don't have to copy Tesla in that regard.
- dzhiurgis 1y ago
  Plot twist - most carmakers button implementations are no better than giant iPad. Special hell to ones making dedicated climate controls using touch surfaces.
germinalphrase 1y ago
The VW Group is putting billions into their partnership with Rivian specifically to improve the software experience (and enabling hardware). It may be the only thing that keeps Rivian alive until (if) the R2 successfully launches to the mass market.
- marssaxman 1y ago
  Imagine what they could do if they put those billions into building auto control panels that had actual knobs and buttons instead of a glorified iPad. They might actually be able to create a pleasant driving experience!
constantcrying 1y ago
>German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software VWAG is now on attempt number two of fixing their Software problems. They tried Cariad, the result was your experience. The next attempt is giving billions to Rivian. If you believe that these companies do not understand how important software is you are totally delusional. Literally Billions worth of money have they spent trying to fix that.
- hn_acc1 1y ago
  Sure - they get the trouble reports. But it's almost as if all the critical decision makers don't drive their own cars in real-life scenarios (drive more expensive cars? Have chaffeurs?) and don't understand how much BETTER it is to have a specific button/dial for "fan speed" and a separate one for temperature, instead of trying to control it via a touchscreen that has 100+ different screens it could be displaying when you want to adjust the temperature / fan speed. Yes, I get it - deleting 7 buttons gets you that $1M bonus - but it totally borks the system for the everyday driver, who then becomes less loyal. At this point, there are very, VERY few companies I'm loyal to, because almost none are loyal to me - they'll all give "new users" better deals, and take advantage of any loyalty I have to gouge me and charge me more than a competitor.
  - constantcrying 1y ago
    >Sure - they get the trouble reports. But it's almost as if all the critical decision makers don't drive their own cars in real-life scenarios (drive more expensive cars? Have chaffeurs?) and don't understand how much BETTER it is to have a specific button/dial for "fan speed" and a separate one for temperature, instead of trying to control it via a touchscreen that has 100+ different screens it could be displaying when you want to adjust the temperature / fan speed. And because all critical people hate physical buttons VWAG all new models and even concept cars now come with physical buttons on the steering wheel and dedicated climate controls outside of the touchscreen? Very weird things going on, where the things which are developed are the exact opposite of what you say the critical decision makers want. Have you actually looked at new VWAG models or their new concept cars? Because this complaint seems to exist purely in your head.

AlexandrB 1y ago

Software is indeed a differentiator, as in I want as little as possible of that shit in my car. Any car where all the controls are on a giant iPad in the middle are a non-starter for me.

ryandrake 1y ago
Physical goods companies just don't get software, and they never seem to be able to do it right. They treat firmware and software like just another line item on the BOM. Like a screw or a silicon gasket: Source it from a cheap supplier, spoon it into the product somewhere on the assembly line, and then never touch it again. As long as it meets a list of checkbox requirements, the quality doesn't matter at all. A car company that obsesses over how nicely the exterior panels fit together will, on the other hand, not even care whether icons and text are aligned on their software.
- FredPret 1y ago
  The other day I saw a meat thermometer with no readout, only an app. No! A good app is more expensive than a good thermometer readout, and will break much sooner. I'll pay a premium for no-tech products.
- nunez 1y ago
  Yup. Case in point: any time the rear view camera comes on in a car commercial. Beatufiul car, awesome interior...potato-quality backup camera.
- AlexandrB 1y ago
  While you're right that car companies are not good at software, this is almost a blessing at this point. Imagine if they had the software talent of a Google or Microsoft and used it to implement the same fucking awful "enshittification" business models.
breadwinner 1y ago
Software is not an alternative to physical controls. You don't have to copy Tesla in that regard.
dzhiurgis 1y ago
Plot twist - most carmakers button implementations are no better than giant iPad. Special hell to ones making dedicated climate controls using touch surfaces.

germinalphrase 1y ago

The VW Group is putting billions into their partnership with Rivian specifically to improve the software experience (and enabling hardware). It may be the only thing that keeps Rivian alive until (if) the R2 successfully launches to the mass market.

marssaxman 1y ago
Imagine what they could do if they put those billions into building auto control panels that had actual knobs and buttons instead of a glorified iPad. They might actually be able to create a pleasant driving experience!

constantcrying 1y ago

>German companies don't seem to understand the growing importance of software VWAG is now on attempt number two of fixing their Software problems. They tried Cariad, the result was your experience. The next attempt is giving billions to Rivian. If you believe that these companies do not understand how important software is you are totally delusional. Literally Billions worth of money have they spent trying to fix that.

hn_acc1 1y ago
Sure - they get the trouble reports. But it's almost as if all the critical decision makers don't drive their own cars in real-life scenarios (drive more expensive cars? Have chaffeurs?) and don't understand how much BETTER it is to have a specific button/dial for "fan speed" and a separate one for temperature, instead of trying to control it via a touchscreen that has 100+ different screens it could be displaying when you want to adjust the temperature / fan speed. Yes, I get it - deleting 7 buttons gets you that $1M bonus - but it totally borks the system for the everyday driver, who then becomes less loyal. At this point, there are very, VERY few companies I'm loyal to, because almost none are loyal to me - they'll all give "new users" better deals, and take advantage of any loyalty I have to gouge me and charge me more than a competitor.
- constantcrying 1y ago
  >Sure - they get the trouble reports. But it's almost as if all the critical decision makers don't drive their own cars in real-life scenarios (drive more expensive cars? Have chaffeurs?) and don't understand how much BETTER it is to have a specific button/dial for "fan speed" and a separate one for temperature, instead of trying to control it via a touchscreen that has 100+ different screens it could be displaying when you want to adjust the temperature / fan speed. And because all critical people hate physical buttons VWAG all new models and even concept cars now come with physical buttons on the steering wheel and dedicated climate controls outside of the touchscreen? Very weird things going on, where the things which are developed are the exact opposite of what you say the critical decision makers want. Have you actually looked at new VWAG models or their new concept cars? Because this complaint seems to exist purely in your head.