Fiat has just launched a no-obligation subscription formula for driving an electric 500. A new offer that allows you to have your own car, but without purchase or long-term rental.
A subscription for the smartphone, for Netflix and soon also for the car. Fiat will launch a subscription offer to drive a Fiat 500e in April. For a minimum of 299 euros per month – and after a deposit of 1,000 euros refundable at the end of the contract – the customer can use an electric Fiat 500 with a monthly mileage of 1,500 kilometers. The basic package includes a model with 190 kilometers of autonomy, other packages offer versions with 320 kilometers.
Pay directly online with credit card
No carsharing here, this 500 will be his… as long as the subscription lasts. Maintenance (with a discount on an electric car), assistance and especially all risk insurance are included in the package, this is without obligation.
“It’s a very simple offer, it’s on a 100% dedicated site, where in a few clicks they can choose the package they want, the distributor to which they should be delivered, and then all they have to do is directly with their bank card to pay”, explains Philippe Vautier, General Manager of Fiat France, about BFM Business.
It is not necessary to provide many documents such as for a loan or a long term rental. Which also seduces a young audience, largely removed from new vehicles.
France will be the pilot market for this formula before it may be expanded to other markets if successful. The Italian manufacturer is not alone in thinking about this new way of car consumption. In February 2021, Hyundai launched a similar offering in Spain called Mocean Subscription.
Consuming a car like Netflix
In an increasingly uncertain car market, can the subscription be an alternative for those who do not or no longer know whether they need a car? That is the view of Christophe Pineau, Strategy and Mobility director at ByMyCar.
“It is a real market in the making, faced with the increase in the cost of owning a car, with the development of the ‘as a service’ approach in our lives, explains this professional. The situation is very favorable for its development. , because it is more competitive compared to medium-term rental”.
ByMyCar – which notably owns the used resale site Elite Auto, the driving school En Voiture Simone and the VTC Marcel – launched its own subscription offers last November. Today, 100 contracts are underway, through five historic concessions across France, and Christophe Pineau hopes for several thousand contracts this year.
Flexibility
The scale of subscription models – very recent occasions here – ranges from the city car to the large sports car. The median price is therefore a lot higher than at Fiat: about 750 euros. Half of the customers are professionals, especially young companies whose managers are not yet aware of their company’s vehicle needs or who are not financially strong enough for a fleet. Subscribers also include executives who have relocated and are testing options for their travel.
“As a result, people who have turned away from the car, because they don’t want to be there for long periods of 2 or 3 years, can make flexibility the most important,” sums up Philippe Vautier. An offer that is mainly aimed at motorists who are hesitant to switch to electric. Fortunately, 70% of Fiat 500s ordered in France are electric.
