The Digitalisation Of Cars And The New Digital Consumer Contract Law

Abstract

Cars are paradigmatic for the digitalisation of goods. Therefore, smart cars are chosen as an example to illustrate the application of the new rules of the Sale of Goods Directive (EU) 2019/771 and the Digital Content and Services Directive (EU) 2019/770 to goods with digital elements and to goods with incorporated and inter-connected digital content or services as supplied by the trader or by third parties. The article flags the demarcation between the two Directives and discusses potential grounds for non-conformity of smart cars with the contract. It then focuses on the consequences that the inclusion of incorporated and inter-connected digital content or services may have on the remedies that the consumer has available. It also briefly touches on the issue of damages that may be of great relevance in practice but that the two Directives do not tackle. The article concludes that although the allocation of liability with the seller would seem to make the consumer’s life easier, different rules for hardware and digital content and services within the Sale of Goods Directive can lead to complications. The parallel application of the Sale of Goods Directive and the Digital Content and Services Directive exacerbates this issue where the consumer acquires digital content and services separately. Vice versa, the seller would seem to have a vital interest to not have many third parties (beyond the manufacturer) being involved with the car, if only for reasons of cybersecurity.