“Access will not be given to alter features/functions in Audi vehicles. This decision comes from Germany.”

These two sentences, taken from an email to a longtime Audi customer, makes the stakes painfully clear. A policy decision drafted in Europe for European roads now dictates how safe you can be at an American stoplight.

Beginning with the 2024 model year, every new Audi sold in the U.S. auto-unlocks all four doors the moment you shift your car into park. Owners cannot turn this off.

The immediate cause is something called "Secure Feature Disablement 2," a software gate that Audi created to satisfy Europe’s newer vehicle cybersecurity and software-update rules.

In prior years, a dealer technician could flip the unlocking convenience setting in minutes. Today, however, service departments acknowledge that they understand the setting but cannot implement changes without a manufacturer authorization process. Owners also report that they cannot switch off the auto-unlock........

© The Hill