AUTONEWS

War in Ukraine and its aftermath: Automakers started restricting the work of branded applications for Russians

Automakers that announced their withdrawal from Russia began to limit the work of their applications in the country – the problem affected cars from the brands Skoda, Kia, Infiniti, Nissan and Renault. In addition, Russian dealers lost access to the software through which they learned about the huge deficiencies identified in the machines and about their recall programs.

Users of mobile apps for Skoda, Kia, Infiniti, Nissan and Renault cars have lost the ability to remotely unlock their doors, remotely start the engine, check the remaining fuel and update the software that controls the operation of the engine, brake system and ABS.

Access to some functions of the applications gradually began to be lost with their next updates: in the Skoda application, problems were found in entering vehicle data and registering for maintenance; Renault cars, in some cases, stopped detecting mobile devices from which drivers try to connect to them; in the Kia Connect app, the remote heating function stopped working; The Volkswagen we Connect app no longer recognizes vehicle data – owners are asked to install another app available only in Germany. Finally, please note that it is not possible to transfer application data from one device to another.

Some manufacturers have not yet introduced restrictive measures – their applications work in full, but only for cars that have been officially delivered, and copies imported through parallel import mechanisms are generally deprived of this opportunity. This particularly affected the Volvo On Call and Land Rover InControl apps.

However, experts are sure that in the near future it is likely that all applications produced by car brands that have left Russia will be disabled. Supporting the operation of the application is quite laborious: you must adapt it to the specificities of local legislation and especially in relation to the processing of personal data. Additional costs require maintaining a team for technical support and software updates.

Last week it became known that the Mercedes me ID application has been disabled for Russians.

Mundoquatrorodas