SA Motor Lease, a division of PACE Auto Group, will become the latest leasing company in South Africa to offer long-term car subscriptions on the FlexClub network. This follows Avis Fleet launching its own long-term subscription offers earlier this year.
FlexClub has created a vehicle subscription account that enables customers to easily subscribe for vehicles online, from a network of rental and leasing merchants. Customers with an account avoid prohibitively expensive security deposits, complex applications and can earn cashback on their monthly vehicle subscription spend.
This comes almost a year after PACE Car Rental, the car rental division within the group, joined the FlexClub network to offer their month-to-month car subscriptions. FlexClub members can use their accounts to shop online for a car that can be delivered to their door within 7 days, from an expansive network of merchants across the country.
According to FlexClub, merchants on the network have made more than 40,000 vehicles available to members for subscriptions, on contracts ranging from 1 month to 36 months.
Since its launch, more than 20,000 people have created a FlexClub account to easily subscribe for vehicles online from the network of merchants.
SA Motor Lease becomes the latest merchant in South Africa to join the network in a bid to expand the reach of their long-term car subscriptions, joining major brands on the network such as Avis, Europcar, Green Motion and Bajaj.
SA Motor Lease has vast experience in the consumer leasing industry, having spent the last decade serving customers looking to lease a vehicle instead of finance.
“By partnering with FlexClub, we’re now able to serve a wider range of customers that want an online shopping experience or are looking for more accessible payment options”, says Grenville Salmon, the founder and CEO of PACE Auto Group.
Car subscriptions continue to rapidly grow in popularity across South Africa, as an increasing number of consumers seek out alternatives to the traditional 6-year vehicle finance offerings that currently dominate the local auto industry.
The long-term subscriptions being offered by SA Motor Lease will range from 6-months to 24-months, at a price that will be cheaper than the month-to-month subscriptions already offered by the group via Pace Car Rental. The launch will feature select vehicle models which have already proven to be in high demand from members with a FlexClub account.
These long-term subscriptions are expected to directly challenge the total cost of ownership provided by traditional vehicle financing and will fill a void left by the limited number of private leasing products available in South Africa.
Globally, more consumers are demanding greater flexibility from mobility products and South Africa is not expected to be an exception given the sophistication of the local automotive industry. Market statistics already highlight the fact that the average new car buyer in South Africa trades in their car after 3 years, despite the majority of them committing to 6 year vehicle finance contracts.
“This mismatch between available products and consumer needs has never been more glaring and we’re starting to see leaders of the largest financial institutions recognise the market readiness for car subscriptions in South Africa”, says Papi Melamu, Business Development Executive at FlexClub.
“The other elephant in the room is how much less accessible cars will become if the auto industry will rely solely on traditional vehicle finance, making the increased accessibility of subscriptions even more appealing to industry stakeholders”, adds Melamu. According to FlexClub, almost 50% of the members using their accounts to pay for vehicle subscriptions from the network of merchants are considered “thin file” customers. This means that there is little or no information on their historical financial activity being held by credit bureaus. As a result, these are customers who would have ordinarily been forced to consider more predatory alternatives to traditional vehicle financing.
Much like the existing month-to-month car subscriptions offered by Pace Car Rental, these long-term car subscriptions from SA Motor Lease will be all-inclusive, negating the need for additional maintenance, insurance, or tracking costs.
The FlexClub accounts enable members to seamlessly shop for the vehicle of their choice, select their preferred subscription terms, arrange delivery to their door and continue to manage their subscription all online. While there are no penalties for cancelling or pausing the month-to-month subscriptions at any time, early termination of long-term subscriptions may incur an additional fee.
“Initially, these long-term car subscriptions from SA Motor Lease will only be available to consumers in Johannesburg and Pretoria. We will be working with SA Motor Lease to support them with a wider rollout, making their subscriptions available to members across the country”, concludes Melamu.
