As we like to say around these parts, “the future is now, folks.” The sharing economy is here, it continues to emerge, and it’s starting to shape the way we consume things, even in parts of the country that haven’t been hit by the technological tidal wave. Like our dearly beloved Nashville, for example. It looks like we here in the Music City will have the chance to forego car ownership in lieu of a month-to-month car subscription service.
Courtesy of Bloomberg Technology:
BMW AG will begin a car-subscription pilot in Tennessee next week, joining the ranks of automakers experimenting with new ownership models as ride hailing and smartphones upend traditional auto retailing.
The service, called Access by BMW, will be offered by a local BMW dealership in Nashville starting April 2, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans who asked not to be named because the information isn’t yet public.
Subscription services allow consumers to flip between different car models as often as they want, instead of committing to one vehicle that they buy or lease. The monthly payments are usually higher than traditional lease contracts, because they cover things like insurance and maintenance.
Damn, this is happening fast. Like…next week fast. Imagine instead of owning one car, you can flip from vehicle to vehicle as often as you want for one payment. No more insurance payments. No more repair costs. Just one monthly payment.
Seems crazy, right? Well, this idea has been kicked around for quite a while now. The buying habits of younger folks are changing drastically from the generations before them, and it’s forcing retailers and manufacturers alike to rethink how they do business. I worked for a San Francisco-based tech company for a while before joining the day job I’m currently at. On a rather large team, few people out there actually owned cars. I had one co-worker who had never owned a car. So, this sort of thing just seemed inevitable as sales in the auto industry have begun to decline a bit. That’s a trend I expect to continue.
But, I can’t help but wonder how some of these big ideas will translate to the deep South. In larger cities, you don’t really need to own a car. You can get everywhere you need to by walking, biking, or hopping in a short Uber (the average rideshare ride is only around 2-5 miles). But, in the South, things are a lot more spread out. The commute time may be the same as in a city, but I have much more land to cover in my commute. So, how long’s it going to take for networks like Uber, Lyft, and Access by BMW to erase car ownership here? A while, I’d say. So, it makes Nashville an ideal place to try out the car subscription service.
Regardless, as we continue to move forward, we’re going to keep seeing things like this pop up. So, who’s eager to try this thing out?
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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