ISTANBUL

German authorities forced Toyota's luxury brand Lexus vehicles to remotely turn off the car heating warm-up system due to its environmental impact, German daily Bild reported Wednesday.

Auxiliary climate control has also been abruptly turned off for thousands of other Toyota and Lexus drivers, according to the report.

The move drew disappointment and confusion online. In 2025, the company sold more than 100,000 vehicles in Germany alone. The deactivation affects the majority of these, although it also affects previous model years.

The parking pre-heating feature, which was previously available for free through the MyToyota or Lexus Link Plus applications, has been disabled on combustion-engine vehicles throughout Germany, according to Toyota spokesman Ralph Muller.

Toyota disabled the feature "to protect the vehicle user from fines," as lawmakers view remote engine warm-up as "unnecessary running" that produces "avoidable exhaust pollution."

Toyota claimed to "protect" owners from potential fines under regulatory enforcement by using remote access to disable the function for compliance. Pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, where cabin heating operates without starting the combustion engine, still have this feature.