Vehicle subscription
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vehicle subscription is a service where a customer pays a recurring fee for the right to use one or more automotive vehicles. Some vehicle subscriptions offer insurance and maintenance as part of the subscription fee; other subscriptions allow the subscriber to switch between different vehicles during their subscription period. Industry commentators consider vehicle subscription to be an alternative to owning or leasing a vehicle.[1][2]
Vehicle subscriptions have been available since 2010 when Rima Braden of Autosource, LLC offered a short-term flexible auto acquisition program from his dealership in Honolulu, Hawaii that he coined "Flexlease". Rebranded as "Carousel" in 2013, the program was restricted to the city and county of Honolulu and remains in operation today. In 2014 flexdrive, now jointly owned by Cox Automotive and Holman Enterprises, launched.[3] Clutch Technologies, a start-up, launched a subscription service for consumers in Atlanta in mid-2014; Flow Automotive Companies was the first automotive dealership to offer a subscription service, launching Drive Flow in Winston-Salem in 2016, using Clutch's technology platform.[4] 2017 saw several automotive manufacturers announce and launch subscription services, including Book by Cadillac, Porsche Passport, Care by Volvo and Canvas (backed by Ford Motor Company).[5] By 2018, a number of startups and automotive dealership companies had launched subscriptions in multiple markets [6] and flexdrive became the first U.S.-based car subscription company to support dealerships and fleet operators stateside and globally through its partnership with Dribe in Denmark.