Of course they're charging up front. The goal is to make as much money as possible. What's much more likely to happen, especially with a brand like Mercedes, is

Of course they're charging up front. The goal is to make as much money as possible. What's much more likely to happen, especially with a brand like Mercedes, is instead of charging $A for trim x and $1.1A for trim z, they'll just charge $1.1A for both and tack the subscription fee on.