- Nissan is launching a test program of its subscription service, Nissan Switch, in Houston.
- The service has two tiers and starts at $ 699 a month. It allows subscribers to switch cars every day and covers insurance and scheduled-maintenance costs.
- The subscription service is something other manufacturers have been launching in recent years, with varied success.
New vehicle subscription services are being announced almost as frequently as electrification plans. Nissan is just the latest to join the group and has announced that it is launching a pilot for a subscription service it’s calling Nissan Switch. The program is currently only available in Houston.
The on-demand service has two tiers, Select and Premium, which cost $ 699 a month and $ 899 a month, respectively. After paying a $ 499 activation fee, subscribers are allowed to pick any of the vehicles available in each tier, with the ability to switch vehicles as often as daily. The monthly fee includes unlimited vehicle swaps, delivery, insurance, roadside assistance, and regular maintenance.
With the Select program level, subscribers have access to the Altima, Rogue, Pathfinder, and Frontier (pictured at top). Premium subscribers have access to any of the vehicles on that Select list and, in addition, the Leaf Plus, Maxima, Murano, Armada, Titan, and 370Z. Premium subscribers also get access to the GT-R (pictured at top), but it costs an extra $ 100 a day, in addition to the $ 899 monthly subscription fee—and it has a limit of seven days of consecutive use.
Nissan business development VP Andrew Tavi commented in a press release that Nissan Switch is intended to be a “solution” for people who want “a sedan during the week and an SUV or sports car, like the GT-R, on the weekends.”
The vehicles in the program will be of the latest model year “featuring well-equipped trim levels,” according to Nissan. The vehicles available to subscribers will give them access to new technology from Nissan including the new driver-assist system, ProPilot 2.0.
With the announcement of the Switch program, Nissan adds itself to a list of other manufacturers currently piloting their own subscription services. Porsche launched its Passport program in 2017; Volvo launched Care in 2017; and Audi’s service, Audi Select, got its start in 2018.
Yet, even as automakers have begun gauging the viability of a subscription service, the model hasn’t proved to be a money maker. Cadillac paused its subscription service in 2018 as a result of low performance but said late last year that it would be returning in 2020. Ford sold its subscription service last fall, three years after it acquired the company that ran the service.
