Weeks ago, Apple unveiled a new scheme for people who always need the newest gadget. You pay a monthly fee and get a new phone as Apple releases them at its annual September love-in. A warranty is included, so even if you smash the screen on Day 2, you can get a replacement, no questions asked.
You'd never need to worry about your phone again. You'd just have one – a good one – all the time.
In Frankfurt this year, auto makers finally imagined car subscriptions/sharing/service/mobility plans that sound amazing. Mercedes and BMW both shared visions for business models that blow Apple's out of the water. This could change everything.
For one, I could stop enriching my Maserati-driving landlord every month because I wouldn't need a parking spot any more.
For another, you wouldn't have to pick just one car – you could have them all, from any single manufacturer.
Mercedes makes more than 30 models. None is perfect. But with this subscription scheme, it wouldn't matter.
Need an SUV for a cottage weekend? Order a GLE. Want a convertible for a road trip? The new S-Class is nice. You could have an electric Smart for a trip to the grocery store, an AMG GT for a track day or a G63 AMG for when civilization collapses. Awesome. Car services would change everything. You wouldn't need a sports car to double as a daily driver – it could be a pure, focused weekend toy. And an electric Smart for grocery trips wouldn't need to be built with enough range to get to the cottage.
Dieter Zetsche, the boss of Mercedes-Benz, outlined his company's vision at the Frankfurt Motor Show: Customers can have any car, at any given moment, and it'll deliver itself directly to where they want it. Instead of Mercedes' Smart car-sharing service Car2Go: Car2Come. For the time being, the subscription would be offered alongside traditional car sales.
Mercedes isn't your style? Or maybe its cars don't arrive quickly enough in your neighbourhood? Try BMW, Mazda or whoever has the best model lineup, the swiftest service and the most pleasing new-car smell.
"Peter Schwarzenbauer [the boss of BMW's Mini brand] said the competitive advantage for premium car makers will be rooted in their ability to offer a portfolio of transport options far beyond just selling a car," Reuters reported. "How well premium car makers do will depend partially on how quickly a customer's desire for transportation can be met."
As creepy as this sounds, imagine "Car2Go there waiting for you," Zetsche said, "unrequested, as soon as the appointment in your diary comes to an end." You couldn't beat the convenience.
The big hurdle is making cars deliver themselves. They'd need to be autonomous robo-cars, and that technology likely won't arrive in this decade. But it is coming.
"Every month," Zetsche said, "our portfolio is getting more diverse, more individual and more networked. We're making progress in autonomous driving every single week."
How much would it cost? To have any car, whenever you want it?
That's being discussed internally at Mercedes, Thomas Weber, Benz's head of research and development, said in a roundtable.
"Car sharing started with cheap cars," he said. "There is always going to be premium customers who expect better quality, premium service – and that will include quality cars."
If Mercedes' car service was, say, a little cheaper than a lease payment, it would change cars, the car business and the way we get around. It would change the way cities look – we wouldn't need so much parking space, empty cars taking up prime real estate. We could build parks, bike lanes and … I'm getting ahead of myself. Because it's exciting. It's the first really great new idea the car industry has come up with, in, well, maybe ever.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Add us to your circles
Sign up for our weekly newsletter