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Car subscription services: A slow, expensive start — but the potential is huge

Americans are used to paying for subscriptions — to magazines and cable television, for instance — but experience shows they'll cancel when the price of admission gets too high, or there are more tempting alternatives. Cord cutters ditched nearly 1.5 million pay-TV subscriptions in 2017, according to a survey by Leichtman Research Group. Cable TV started out cheap with basic offerings, and then got expensive. The auto industry's subscription offerings are new, but they're starting out costly, and not price-competitive with traditional leasing. The upside is that they take the hassle out of car ownership for busy people by letting the service take care of maintenance, insurance, licensing and taxes. And they give consumers choice, often allowing relatively painless switches between different cars in the automakers' lineup. Subscription services also point the way toward an ownership-free auto experience, and offer an easy transition to a potential world where ride- and car-sharing will be dominant. Subscriptions are here to stay, but consumers may take a while to "get" them. Lincoln's subscription service for lightly used 2015 to 2017 models, offered through the Ford-owned Canvas beginning this year, got off to a slow start. Many early subscribers canceled. Last month, Cadillac announced it would " temporarily pause" its $1,800-per-month Book subscription service for "adjustments" as of December 1. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Snags with the back-end technology used to support the service made some customer-service functions tedious and time-consuming, adding costs for the company." The challenge for automakers is to come up with a strategy that offers consumers a compelling, affordable option to regular ownership, and one that can also make a profit. I think they'll find that sweet spot, but they're not there yet. Jack Nerad, former executive editorial director at Kelley Blue Book and author of " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car," points out that "A lot of people expected that subscriptions would be very valuable for people who wanted inexpensive transportation, but the reality is quite the opposite. Subscriptions are offering more choices for the wealthy.

GM recalls full-size truck, SUVs and vans over faulty shifter mechanism

Twelve different General Motors vehicles from the 2013 model year, up to 54,686 units in total, are being recalled over two potential issues with their steering columns. The models in question, all full-size trucks, SUVs or vans, are the: Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Express, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Savana, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL.
The affected vehicles were built with a fractured parking lock cable or "a malformed steering column lock actuator gear in the lock module assembly." As a consequence, they could shift out of park without the brake pedal being applied or with the key removed or in the off position.
A bulletin from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that the recall should begin on January 17. GM will notify owners, at which time they can take their vehicles to their dealers for repair free of charge. Have a look at the bulletin below for more information.

Cadillac CT6 gets a plug in Shanghai, will come to US

Don't call it the third coming of the Chevy Volt. The unsurprising debut of the Cadillac CT6 PHEV in Shanghai today has a powertrain that sounds an awful lot like the one that can be found in the Volt and the Cadillac ELR. The plug-in CT6 – identical to the CT6 that debuted in New York earlier this month – has an 18.4-kWh lithium-ion battery (just like the 2016 Volt) and offers an all-electric range of around 37 miles. It also copies the "Regen on Demand" feature from the new Volt and the battery cells "use the latest generation cell chemistry found in other GM plug-in vehicles." But Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen doesn't see the two powertrains as similar in at least one important way. General Motors calls the Volt and the ELR "extended range electric vehicles" (EREV) but in a statement, de Nysschen says that the plug-in hybrid CT6 is, "an ideal platform for Cadillac to offer its first plug-in hybrid." That GM is using the PHEV terminology rather than EREV is going to be important to some, even if the practical difference is only semantic. And yes, we all understand the irony of de Nysschen – the same guy who has a history of speaking ill of plug-in cars – hyping them now. Back when he worked for Audi, he said the original Volt was too expensive for what it offered and was thus, a car for "idiots." Speaking in Shanghai today, de Nysschen said the new CT6 PHEV was, "an EV without any of the disadvantages or range constraints," according to Automotive News. If the batteries are similar to GM's other EREV/PHEV cars, the CT6 powertrain is at least different. The ELR uses a 1.4-liter engine, while the new Volt has a 1.5-liter four-cylinder mill. The CT6, on the other hand, has a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine with direct injection. There is also an "all-new rear wheel electric variable transmission (EVT) with exclusively designed motors," that will give the CT6 PHEV, "smooth, spirited acceleration." The EVT is a two-motor-unit that uses three planetary gears. Maximum overall system output is 335 horsepower and 432 pound-feet of torque. Perhaps most interesting for American audiences is the fact that GM's press release, available below, makes multiple references to US-market sales of the PHEV. Official details on the EV range and fuel economy will be made available closer to the car's US launch.