Jaguar Land Rover announces new Pivotal car subscription service

Fancy swapping between a Jaguar i-Pace and Range Rover Sport without having to cop the cost of depreciation and ownership? Jaguar Land Rover’s new Pivotal subscription service could be right up your alley.

The new car subscription service allows users to sign up and drive models from the Jaguar and Land Rover/Range Rover model line-ups, without having to worry about ongoing costs like insurance, tax, servicing, maintenance and depreciation.

Instead, users can sign up and pay a monthly rate to subscribe to the service, and if you decide to change things up, you can pause your subscription - after three months. 

If you want to stay on the plan, you can get a “fresh vehicle” every six months, which Pivotal claims means “you always have the latest technology and the option to drive different models if you wish”.

The program has been rolled out in the UK with a sign up one-off fee of £550 (AUD $995), with four tiers available to choose from based on what you need - though you can switch tiers if you decide you want something different.

Blue tier costs £750 per month (AUD $1356), and allows access to a Land Rover Discovery Sport, Jaguar F-Pace or Range Rover Evoque.

Indigo tier is £1150/month (AUD $2080) and offers the choice of a Range Rover Velar, Land Rover Discovery or the full-electric Jaguar i-Pace.

Violet level is £1350/month (AUD $2442), giving you the opportunity to drive a Range Rover Sport. 

And the flagship Ultraviolet level is £1600/month (AUD $2895) and secures a Range Rover for your enviable driveway. 

The fees are considerably higher than what you might find in the traditional car subscription space, though most cars in programs like Carly, Carbar and Hellocars are used examples rather than new or near-new. 

Pivotal says you get “everything included”: home delivery and collection, insurance for two drivers, road tax (UK), servicing and roadside assistance, specialist one-to-one support, and a fresh new set of wheels every six months. 

Sadly for Aussies, this system isn’t looking likely to be rolled out locally. A release from JLR’s Australian team stated that “there is no specific plan to introduce Pivotal subscription to Australia”, though the company did point out that it has an existing agreement with Carbar Australia, with 10 Jaguar F-Pace SUVs on the company’s books.

JLR isn't the first manufacturer to launch an in-house car subscription service. General Motors had the Maven program, though it has been axed. And Volvo has the Care by Volvo subscription plan, which is expected to launch in Australia in 2021.