Mercedes is one of the latest car companies to think, “hey, what do we do in a global downturn when new sales are low… I know, let’s limit some features on our car, then when people buy them, charge them extra to unlock it via a subscription model. If it’s worked for SaaS, it can work for us!”  

According to their site, a mere $1200 a year can give you a “noticeable improvement in acceleration of 0.8 to 1.0 seconds (0-60MPH)” 

I kind of get it when car manufacturers want to lock some super cool novelty(ish) features behind a subscription model, but limiting the actual performance and capability of the car – which it already has – is pretty low. 

All these companies wanting to charge a subscription makes Elon Musks plan of $8 a month to tweet almost seem reasonable by comparison.