Mercedes-Benz launching subscription service in June?

The pilot program will kick off in two cities.

BMW recently announced plans to launch a subscription service in Nashville, Tennessee. Rival Mercedes-Benz confirmed it will experiment with the concept starting in June.

The yet-unnamed service will kick off in two American cities, according to Automotive News. Mercedes announced it at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention that took place recently in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the company stopped short of providing full details.

We don't know which cities the brand picked or how long the pilot program will last for. Significantly, we don't know if Mercedes will follow Cadillac, Porsche, and BMW by offering members access to an unlimited number of cars, or if it will join Volvo in letting motorists subscribe to a specific type of car.

The idea isn't to push out the brick-and-mortar dealership. The subscription service will continue to rely on existing dealerships. They'll deliver and maintain the cars, according to the same report.

"The dealer board said if Mercedes was going to do something, we want to make sure it involves us. That was brought up six or eight months ago and clearly made known from the dealer body, and there was an immediate 'absolutely,' " explained Greg Barnes, the president of a company that runs two Mercedes dealerships in Florida.

Mercedes hasn't commented on the report. If it's accurate, we'll learn more details about the subscription service in the coming months.

Photo by Ronan Glon.