Nissan jumping into the subscription service

[max_g]

@Electric

And even then: who wants to drive a Nissan?

Someone upgrading from Mitsubishi?

[Bjam]

@paranoidgarliclover

I think subscriptions as a revenue generation makes sense in industries where something similar doesn’t exist. But isn’t leasing already pretty close to a subscription model?

A million years ago when I was in college. I was leasing a tiny Toyota Aygo (think a Yaris but much smaller - about the same size as a Nike Airmax90) and my housemate at the time was so taken with it she leased the Peugeot equivalent (it was badge engineered) and I was super angry because at the time they were running a program called ‘Just add fuel’ in which she paid £120 all-in. It was literally just gas she had to pay for and barely any of that. I was livid as my Aygo was costing me an outrageous £93 PLUS Insurance and servicing etc.

What’s my point again? Oh yeah. I would totally, 100% sign up for a subscription service like this. One payment. Just add gas. If Volvo would give me an XC40 for $499 all in, I’d jump at it. Instead they want $700+ and the math just doesn’t add up.

[Ursus]

@kimcicle

Care by Volvo is $700 a month, but it’s only for the base XC40 with no car swaps.

XC40 T5 R is not base, by any means. And you can swap after 12 months. $700 for a Volvo vs. $700 for a Nissan is a no brainer

[trism]

@mllcb42

Would you rather pay $900/mo to drive a murano or $800/mo to drive an XC90?

Is there a third choice?

[Electric]

Or a fiat.

[Electric]

Bus pass. Metro card? Uber everywhere?

[paranoidgarliclover]

@mp11477

The brands need to do a much better job at marketing this though

Does anyone here know how much profit car makers might be making on the various subscription plans? I sort of wonder if the plans are break-even or close enough to it that the dealerships are just testing the waters b/f sinking even more $ into a big marketing push.

@Bjam

Instead they want $700+ and the math just doesn’t add up

That’s the thing; the math for us as consumer doesn’t add up, but I wonder if that’s what manufacturers actually need to charge to make it worth their while. In which case, it’s just a bad business proposition, period. But I actually imagine that lots of people who be interested in an all-inclusive lease (or subscription) that was, say, maybe $100 more per month than a comparable standard lease.

[mp11477]

@paranoidgarliclover

Does anyone here know how much profit car makers might be making on the various subscription plans? I sort of wonder if the plans are break-even or close enough to it that the dealerships are just testing the waters b/f sinking even more $ into a big marketing push.

No clue, but Cadillac suspended their subscription service because it was costing them more than anticipated. It’s slated to revive this year, but expected to cost more with less offered.

[Gemini4]

If I lived within walking distance to a ZipCar pickup spot, I’d gladly ditch car ownership and opt for this pay-as-you-go model … it even includes gas!

[Bjam]

Yep the model works well in some places - I lived in Vancouver for 18 months and only used zipcar/car2go/DriveNow type transit. But it worked well in that city because public transit was pretty efficient, it’s a walkable city and I lived right in the centre.

However, I certainly wouldn’t want to pay per minute for my LA commute, the evening portion of which can vary between 20mins or 2 hours dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions.