Mercedes is offering a $1,200 annual subscription that improves performance. Your Mercedes engine power will increase by 20 to 24 percent. So will increase torque and reduce acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in dynamic driving mode by about 0.8 to 0.9 seconds.
The subscription doesn’t include any physical equipment upgrades. You will only receive an unlocking of all vehicle features. So you get something that Mercedes has limited explicitly to sell it as an optional extra later on.
Many people don’t think this is fair, and others agree. This is why global new car sales have dropped in recent years. So the company has had to switch to selling software updates and features as subscriptions to get a continuous revenue stream long after the car is purchased.
Mercedes isn’t the only company offering this to its customers. BMW previously offered customers in some countries to pay a subscription fee for seat heating already installed in its cars. BMW previously tried to charge its customers $80 a year for access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Other car manufacturers include these features for free.
