Amazon undercuts Netflix with Grand Tour offers

Amazon has slashed its Prime subscription rate in tandem with the launch of it £160 million Top Gear rival The Grand Tour.

The Grand Tour, presented by the former team from BBC motoring series Top Gear, launched on Amazon in the US, Germany and UK today.

Amazon slashed the price of a Prime subscription, which gives subs access to the Prime Video streaming service and The Grand Tour, as the car show launched.

In the UK the e-commerce giant is offering a Prime sub for £59, instead of the usual £79 for today only. Amazon requires a year-long subscription unlike its chief streaming rival Netflix. The reduced rate makes it a cheaper alternative to Netflix over the course of a year.

In the US the price has been slashed to US$79 from the usual US$99 for the day.

Amazon was tipped to use the launch of The Grand Tour as a marketing hook for a wider international roll out, although this has not been the case. It will launch the show in 200 territories next month, but not as part of the full Prime Video offering.

In Australia local press are reporting that Australians can now sign up and get the full streaming service. The Sydney Morning Herald said the ‘rush launch’ was offering Australians the service, but it was still being priced in US dollars. It is understood they are also being offered the option of paying the sterling price of sterling.

Amazon told Mashable it hasn’t launched in Australia, and local users are signing up via US or UK accounts. It told TBI there was nothing to announce in Australia.