The Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club ADAC was founded more than 116 years ago
As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, these decisions cannot be called a sensation, as they have already been mentioned more than once by the ADAC management. "It is important for us to be able to maintain and develop our services for our members, despite the overall increase in costs of about 1.5% per year and the additional financial burden due to insurance obligations," explains the new president of the ADAC club, August Markl. "From spring 2020, it will be 10% more expensive."
Ordinary club members will have to pay 54 euros instead of the basic 49 euros per year. For almost 75% of the so-called "Plus-Mitglieder", basic fees will increase from 84 to 94 euros. But that's not all.
This, hardly the oldest club in Germany, has now introduced a new, third, premium form of membership. Members included in this form are called "Premium-Mitglieder". They are entitled to claim assistance in case of breakdown or accident of their car not only in Germany or Europe, but worldwide, towing of the damaged vehicle to a workshop in case of breakdown within 100 kilometers, as well as international medical insurance.
Annual fees for "Premium-Mitglieder" are, however, 139 euros per year. The club hopes to attract about one million motorists for such a premium model within five years. The club's management does not consider such forecasts exaggerated, since almost three out of four ADAC member motorists already opt for higher fees that provide additional functions.
The ADAC club management emphasizes that it is deliberately not "tightening the screws", that fees and membership itself are voluntary. But recently, the club has to pay almost 33 million euros per year to tax authorities.
The consequences of the recent scandal in early 2014 with the rigged car of the "Yellow Angel" competition, which significantly tarnished the image of the automobile club, have been successfully overcome, according to its new leaders. They therefore hope that, as before the scandal, the number of members will increase annually by 400,000 to 500,000 people. The current goal of the new club management is to increase the total amount of fees from today's approximately 600 million euros to 660 million euros.