Mercedes Is Trying To Kill Its Already Stagnant Customer Base

How long before we’re all paying monthly just to turn our cars on?

Mercedes-Benz GL-Klasse: 4MATIC – der permanente Allradantrieb von Mercedes-Benz – verhilft der GL-Klasse zu einer überlegenen Fahrdynamik unter allen Bedingungen. Mercedes-Benz GL-Class: 4MATIC – the permanent all-wheel-drive system from Mercedes-Benz – gives the GL-Class superior handling under any conditions.

There is a very fine line between innovative business/marketing strategies and senseless greed, especially when it comes to the world of sports cars. It’s become sort of commonplace actually, do you want a base Corvette with an MSRP of $65,895? Better pay that $20,000 dealership mark up. Or wait, even better: “Here’s our new and improved interior design made to look super expensive while still using the same materials that didn’t work in the ‘80s let alone today.” Whatever the examples are there is usually one common thread connecting them all, they at least try to hide it. That was until the idea of automotive subscription services came along.

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You heard that right, and the truly funny part of it has got to be that this is an option that is most common among luxury brands. For instance, Mercedes has recently unleashed a new program allowing for an increase in performance in their EV models for a staggering $1,200 per year. This essentially means they have the ability to make a better product with little more than a software update and are trying to squeeze every dime from their audience as possible. “But that doesn’t seem too bad if it’s only luxury or high performance brands” you might be thinking.

Think again because there is a widely known phenomenon within the industry called the trickle down effect. Most people like to explain it like this: average economy cars today have the same power as the sports cars of yesterday. This frames performance and top-end automobiles as the test group for large scale technological production and implementation. It’s all positive until you realize this applies to every aspect of automobiles including the ones meant to line the pockets of the greedy. But by all means, let these brands get away with implementing subscription services into their business strategy, just don’t get surprised when your kids have to pay a fee to start their Toyota in a few years.