The age of car subscription services in the U.S. has begun. Mercedes-Benz is joining in on the fun with plans to launch its own pilot program in June. The service will be called the Mercedes-Benz Collection, and it will first roll out in two cities: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Nashville, Tennessee. Pricing or vehicle details have yet to be revealed, but the automaker is now accepting applications for the service.

At this point, the Mercedes-Benz Collection subscription service isn’t bereft of details. We already know a few bits and pieces on how the service works, including the volume of cars the automaker plans to make available. Without specifying the models, Mercedes announced that a “broad array of Mercedes-Benz offerings including SUV, sedan, coupe, cabriolet, roadster, and wagon models” will be spread out on different tiers. In other words, that covers a significant number of models in the company’s fleet. Mercedes said that AMG models will also be available, also through a tier-by-tier setup.

Those who subscribe to the program are going to be offered a number of different services, all of which can be done through a dedicated app that Merc is currently developing. Among the services that are expected to become available include vehicle exchanges, vehicle set-up, and “other actions.” The automaker is even opening a concierge service that will be in charge of delivering the model you choose

Needless to say, the service comes with a cost. Mercedes hasn’t announced the exact figures, but it is expected to come in the form of monthly fees that differ depending on the chosen tier. This fee includes unlimited access to an assortment of models within the chosen tier, as well as insurance, vehicle maintenance, roadside assistance, and no mileage restrictions.

For comparison’s sake, BMW’s own pilot subscription service, Access by BMW, comes with two tiers — Legend and M — that cost $2,000 and $3,700 per month, respectively. Models that are available in the Legend tier include the 5 Series, X5, and M2, while models available in the M tier include the M4 Convertible, M5, M6, X5 M, and X6 M.

It’s also worth noting that BMW also chose Nashville, Tennessee as the site of its own pilot program. I doubt that this is all coincidence, so the question begs: did Mercedes choose Nashville to see how its subscription service can work in the face of competition from BMW? It makes a lot of sense to do that, especially since it also plans to launch the service in Philadelphia, a bigger city with no competition, to see how it’s going to fare in that kind of environment.

References

Read our full review on the 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT 4 Door Coupe.

Read our full review on the 2019 Mercedes-AMG C 63 Coupe.

Read more Mercedes-Benz news.