The German Automobile Club (ADAC) has announced that it will not be increasing its membership fees in the foreseeable future. “There will be no fee increases this year and not next year either” said ADAC President Christian Reinicke in an interview with the Funke Media Group.
The ADAC has experienced a significant surge in membership, with the number of members exceeding 22 million for the first time in August 2024. According to the organization, over a million new members have joined the club in the past five years. As of the summer, the ADAC reported that 15.7 million people held a plus membership, with around 5 million holding a basic membership and 780,000 having completed the premium membership.
Individuals pay between 54 and 139 euros per year for an ADAC membership, with the last fee increase taking place in 2020. At that time, the average annual payment increased by 10%.
The ADAC has introduced several new services and offerings for its members in recent years, including a bicycle breakdown service, a key emergency service and telemedicine services. “These services aim to meet new needs of members and further increase the attractiveness of membership. They don’t really have a significant impact on our costs” explained Reinicke.
Meanwhile, the classic breakdown service for cars remains a major reason for many people to join the ADAC. Reinicke attributed this to the increasing age of vehicles in Germany, with the average age of cars in the country rising to 10.3 years in the previous year. “The aging of the car fleet is one of the explanations for our rapidly growing membership numbers. People want to have the security of knowing that the ADAC is there to help if they have a breakdown with their, possibly aging, vehicle” said Reinicke.