Subscription models are commonplace in many areas of everyday life. These are now also becoming increasingly popular for vehicle features. Although manufacturers such as Tesla and Mercedes have been using subscriptions for years, BMW was the first to bring the topic to the general public with such a banal special feature as seat heating.
For years now, Porsche Taycan features such as the intelligent Range Manager or Power Steering Plus have been activated via a subscription. The Mercedes-Benz EQS has 4.5-degree rear axle steering as standard. This can also be increased to 10 degrees by subscription. And with the Tesla Model 3, in which it has been possible to subscribe to seat heating for the rear since 2020, the subject of subscription instead of purchase has also been standard for a long time.
For manufacturers, the subscription model brings new ways of optimizing sales and production. Theoretically, more resources are needed in production to produce each car as standard, e.g. B. equipped with a seat heater. On the other hand, it massively simplifies the complexity of production for the carmaker.
In addition, the material costs are of course lower than what the buyer later pays to activate the feature - regardless of whether it is a one-time payment or a subscription.
The psychological component in particular plays a major role in the subscription models. 3,000 euros more for modern assistance systems or 500 euros more for an extended 10-degree rear axle steering? Many customers probably do without this at the beginning. But if they then have the car and know that they can unlock these features for 30 or 15 euros a month as a test, the inhibition threshold drops and the probability increases that the special equipment will be activated permanently for a one-time payment if they like it.
The model is thus based on the pulse of the times. There are more and more people who no longer want to own a car. Leasing or car sharing are very popular, especially in big city dwellers. The subscription model takes the desire for flexibility into account when it comes to special equipment. If you subscribe to a car for six months in summer, you don't need heated seats. Anyone who takes over the vehicle in winter will in all probability book this option, and the steering wheel heating at the same time. The future most likely belongs to the subscription model.
