The auto industry keeps toying with, then abandoning, a new business model based on the one that may have given you the phone you’re reading this on.
Car subscriptions charge a monthly fee to use, but not own, a car. Many bundle insurance and maintenance into the monthly cost. Some let you switch cars frequently.
Audi and BMW tried it, killing their plans in 2021. Volvo offered one until last year. Porsche still does, though the Porsche Drive program is limited to just a few states and starts at a rich $1,800 per month.
Related – Should You Pay For A Car Subscription?
Study: Price Increases Could Bring the Idea Back
A new survey suggests that the idea should make a comeback. The off-road outfitters at Extreme Terrain surveyed 1,005 Americans to ask if they’d consider subscribing to a car. “Among them, 89% were car owners, and 11% were actively in the market to buy or lease a vehicle in the next 6 months,” they explain.
“The generational breakdown was as follows: Gen Z (20%), millennials (50%), Gen X (23%), and baby boomers (7%).”
The biggest news? Price increases could resurrect the idea. Just 46% would consider a subscription today, the researchers found, but another 46% “would be more likely to explore car subscription services if tariffs caused traditional vehicle prices to rise.”
The number willing to consider a subscription jumps to 56% if it includes insurance and maintenance.
Few — just one in three — say they’d take advantage of the opportunity to swap cars every six months.
The survey found a generational gap, with 55% of baby boomers open to subscribing, but just 45% of Gen X and 46% of the younger generations.
Cost Means This Likely Won’t Happen
Automakers, however, might find it difficult to set up a subscription that Americans could afford. One in five said they would pay over $600 a month. New car buyers in March signed up for an average monthly payment of $739, according to Kelley Blue Book parent company Cox Automotive.
If owning one car costs $739 per month, we’re not sure any company could profitably offer a fleet of them for less.