Porsche Brings Subscription Service To Four More Cities

Expanding its flexible car ownership experiment even while other automakers pull back, Porsche is bringing its subscription service to four new U.S. cities. The brand is bringing on San Diego, Las Vegas, Toronto and Phoenix to the pilot offering that it began in Atlanta, Bloomberg reported.

The cost of its two-tiered Porsche Passport subscription service will rise to as high as $3,100 a month. A program that is shorter-term with a minimum of four hours, however, comes at a price as low as $269.

Most subscription services come at a higher cost than a three-year lease that is comparable per a study from Edmunds released in 2018. The $2,100 Porsche Passport tier is 20 percent more expensive than “leasing a Porsche for three years” per the report.

Even so, 180 people subscribed during a period of two years. Typical customers were eight years younger than the average owner of a Porsche — in their mid-40s.

Porsche Cars North America Head Klaus Zellmer said, according to the report, “The question is not a bookkeeping exercise or accounting; the question is how much are you willing to pay for that much freedom?”

Automakers are said to be offering subscriptions in an attempt to reach younger consumers that are used to asking for rides from Uber or watching videos on Netflix.

In separate news, Mercedes-Benz announced in June that it was celebrating the one-year anniversary of its luxury vehicle subscription service by expanding the program to Atlanta. Mercedes-Benz Collection was also expanding its Nashville, Tennessee offering to include the Premier tier.

Adam Chamberlain, vice president of sales for MBUSA, said in a press release at the time, “The pilot program far exceeded our expectations. Eighty-two percent of the subscribers are new to Mercedes-Benz, and we are hitting the mark attracting younger drivers who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the brand at such a young age.”