Holden will become the Asia-Pacific hub for the roll out of GM’s OnStar car connectivity system launching here in 2019.

GM’S ONSTAR car connectivity offers such features emergency assistance, security tracking if your vehicle is stolen, navigation, remote vehicle diagnostics management, and the ability to act as a WiFi hotspot. The system was originally launched in the US 20 years ago; it is much more advanced now than it was then.

The roll-out in Australia will be from 2019 with the Equinox SUV, it will offer “standard, subscription and a la carte services such as the MyBrand mobile app, Advanced Diagnostics, Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, AtYourService, OnStar Smart Driver and 4G LTE Wi-Fi,” Holden said. 

Like Ford’s SYNC communications system which has been up and running in Australia for some time now, OnStar will offer an “automatic crash and emergency response feature, the ultimate peace of mind, utilising GPS satellites and enhanced mobile capability to provide greater accuracy of location and greater coverage to get emergency services to customers wherever they need them”.

Unlike SYNC, OnStar can “protect your vehicle by providing alerts should the vehicle move away from its defined location, ignition blocking, and remote slow-down of confirmed stolen vehicles,” announced Holden.

“While OnStar uses very powerful and advanced technologies to deliver its services in the car and via the web and smart devices, it is simple and easy for the customer to use,” said Peter Keley, Managing Director, OnStar General Motors International. 
“OnStar’s human touch is what makes it unique and differentiates it from other telematics services in the market. And the above is just the beginning. Once we connect you to your car remotely the possibilities to create experiences that make your drive more enjoyable and the way that we can enhance the usage of your time are endless.

“This is an important step as we will continue to grow GM’s connected vehicle solutions in this region of the world in the coming years,” said Mr Keley.