Porsche's New Monthly Subscription Service Is Like A Sports Car Spotify

These days, consumer spend seems to be all about monthly subscriptions. You don’t buy albums, you have a Spotify subscription. You could buy a movie on DVD or a Blu-Ray, or you could just sign up to Netflix. And who buys a phone outright any more, other than Jason Bourne types who want a burner?

The same thing is happening to cars - we’re not quite there yet, but car sharing schemes that do away with conventional ownership completely are slowly starting to emerge. They’re mostly based around dull city biffabouts and small EVs, but the latest one is a little different. Because it’s being launched by Porsche.

Dubbed Porsche Passport, it gives users on-demand access to a whole host of the company’s vehicles, allowing for “frequent changes” - all without a mileage cap. Following a one-off $500 activation fee, it’s $2000 a month for the ‘Launch’ tier, and $3000 for ‘Accelerate’. Select the Porsche you’re after on an app, and you can have it delivered to a location of your choosing.

Launch has eight vehicles to choose from including the 718 Boxster and Cayman S, the Macan S and Cayenne. Accelerate give users the choice of 22 vehicles, including all those in Launch plus cars like the 911 Carrera S, Panamera 4S and Macan GTS.

The catch? Currently it’s debuting only in Atlanta, Georgia. But with the concept of car ownership expected to fundamentally change in the coming years, it’ll almost certainly be rolled out elsewhere.

“Our Strategy 2025 vision is to be the most aspirational brand in a new era of mobility and consumer expectations,” said Klaus Zellmer, boss of Porsche North America, adding, “Catering to customers’ desire to experience our sports cars in new ways is a part of our core strategy.” In other words, watch this space…