{"id":2381,"date":"2021-01-19T08:32:50","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T08:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1334546"},"modified":"2021-01-19T08:32:50","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T08:32:50","slug":"audi-and-bmws-us-subscription-car-service-shutdown-points-to-a-murky-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=2381","title":{"rendered":"Audi and BMW\u2019s US subscription car service shutdown points to a murky future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2021\/01\/16\/bmw-audi-shut-down-subscription-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Autoblog<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autonews.com\/sales\/bmw-pulls-plug-vehicle-subscription-pilot-audi-select-dropped\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Automotive News<\/a>, German carmakers BMW and Audi are shutting down trials of their US-based subscription services.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for BMW\u2019s subscription service told Automotive News that the trial was designed to test the viability of such systems, and the company is now away developing the next iteration of the program.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to draw any significant conclusions from that, but we can say one thing, the services weren\u2019t working in their current guise. When, or whether, this service will come back at all remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>BMW only offered its subscription service in Nashville. Audi restricted its trial to Texas, and has simply stated that it will be pulling the service by January 31. There\u2019s no sign if Audi is reworking its offering to relaunch, so let\u2019s consider that ship to have sailed.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Read: <a class=\"c-link c-message_attachment__title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/distract\/2020\/12\/21\/how-netflix-shapes-mainstream-culture-explained-by-data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-qa=\"message_attachment_title_link\"><span dir=\"auto\">How Netflix shapes mainstream culture, explained by data<\/span><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>BMW debuted its Access program in 2018 which offered subscribers access to a whole fleet of BMW models for a set monthly subscription cost, which included roadside assistance, insurance, and maintenance. Drivers could access vehicles via a mobile app.<\/p>\n<p>Autoblog suggests the market for this model of car use and ownership has shrunk. Indeed, with more people working from home, demand could have shrunk, or simply the demand wasn\u2019t there in the first place, or maybe, residents Texas and Nashville just don\u2019t need this kind of car ownership model.<\/p>\n<p>Cadillac is still testing its own subscription service with dealers, and other similar programs, like Volvo Care, are still going. It\u2019s not clear how demand is faring, though.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side of the pond, subscription-only car brand Lynk &amp; Co. <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/shift\/2020\/10\/22\/first-look-at-lynk-co-s-first-amsterdam-location\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opened its first European <em>clubhouse<\/em> in Amsterdam<\/a>. Unlike BMW or Audi, Lynk &amp; Co.\u2019s only offers cars on a subscription basis and is <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/shift\/2020\/09\/30\/lynk-co-car-owning-sharing-scheme-never-cost-more-than-500-per-month\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">going all-in on the strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In Amsterdam, where car ownership is quite low, a subscription service which gives access to a vehicle only when you need it makes sense. Perhaps the industry will have more success there, all we know: it\u2019s a bit murky for now.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1308892 lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos.png\" alt width=\"220\" height=\"100\" sizes=\"(max-width: 220px) 100vw, 220px\" data-lazy=\"true\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos.png 3003w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos-280x127.png 280w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos-540x245.png 540w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos-270x123.png 270w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos-796x361.png 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos-1592x723.png 1592w\"><\/figure>\n<p><i><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/shift\/\">SHIFT<\/a> is brought to you by Polestar. It\u2019s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polestar.com\/nl\/polestar-and-shift?utm_medium=pp&amp;utm_source=dp&amp;utm_campaign=pcid_3450_41261_85609_351306_p_nl_1local_pp_dp&amp;utm_content=ad\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><i><span>Find out how<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\"> Published January 19, 2021 \u2014 08:32 UTC <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/shift\/2021\/01\/19\/audi-bmw-us-subscription-car-services-shutdown\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to Autoblog and Automotive News, German carmakers BMW and Audi are shutting down trials of their US-based subscription services. A spokesperson for BMW\u2019s subscription service told Automotive News that the trial&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}