QOTD: Forget Newsletters - Which Automaker Would You Subscribe To?

Newsletters, podcasts, streaming music services — our quest for consumption and thirst for variety knows no bounds. But lately, automakers have taken to experimenting with the same business model. A range of cars, plus insurance coverage, for a fixed monthly price.

Sounds intriguing, if the price is right.

Cadillac’s doing it. Bimmer, too. And so is Porsche. Volvo has such a service, but it only nets you a single compact crossover. Mercedes-Benz recently made its own foray into the subscription arena, offering a bevy of German luxury vehicles for just over a grand per month.

What would it take to lure you aboard the subscription bandwagon?

Maybe it isn’t the business model or the price — it’s the automaker. Cadillacs and Teutonic barges from east of the Rhine are nice, but perhaps not your cup of automotive tea. No, you’re thinking of something more practical, something with the widest variety of roadgoing appliances.

It’s hard not to think of an OEM-wide subscription service offered by Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, or Ford. Swapping back and forth between loaded luxo pickups and muscle cars, with SUVs rounding out the fare, seems like a great idea for the consumer, but maybe not for the company. OEMs like racking up sales of high-margin vehicles. And neither Ford nor Chevrolet nor Ram have much trouble offloading full-size pickups.

To tempt the American consumer, OEMs would need to think long and hard about that subscription price. Book by Cadillac is still unprofitable. BMW’s subscription service just cut back its entry price. Everyone’s starting out small and making baby steps towards a wider roll-out, fearful of losing money and looking like a failure.

Still, we can be assured of more subscription services popping up in the future. Your task today is to describe the automotive subscription service you’d like to see, then come up with the fair and reasonable price you’d be willing to pay.

Have at it.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]