In a move that could have a far-reaching impact on the industry’s approach to in-car technologies, General Motors recently announced that its OnStar system would go on sale this spring as a stand-alone package that can be installed on both older GM vehicles as well as those from other automakers. In addition, the setup will be available through national electronics retailers, beginning with Best Buy.
“We’re proud to be OnStar’s first strategic retail partner for this innovative offering, which is one more way Best Buy can help our customers stay connected whenever and wherever they want,” said Lisa Farrell, a Best Buy senior vice president. “We provide a one-stop solution for consumers. In addition to purchasing the device at Best Buy, we offer our customers the convenience of having it installed by our Geek Squad Auto Techs—all at one location.”
Best Buy and other stores will sell and install Onstar rearview mirrors that have all the relevant technologies in one package. The cost will be $299 for the hardware, and GM expects installation to add another $75-$100 to the total. The process is just a matter of swapping rearview mirrors and attaching the new one to a power source, which should take less than an hour. After that, you can choose from a number of different OnStar packages, with prices beginning at $18.95 per month/$199 per year.
Specific OnStar services will include:
* Automatic Crash Response, which automatically contacts an OnStar advisor if the vehicle has been in an accident.
* Emergency Services Link, offering an immediate connection to a specially trained emergency advisor through a single button push.
* Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, capable of locating a vehicle through its internal GPS system.
* Turn-by-Turn Navigation, delivering spoken-word, turn-by-turn driving directions.
* Roadside Assistance, providing a connection to OnStar for non-emergency situations including lockouts and flat tires.
* Hands-Free Calling, with the ability to make hands-free, voice-activated calls via a Bluetooth-compatible phone or through the OnStar system itself.
Notably, however, you don’t need to have a mobile phone, or even own one, to take advantage of OnStar services.
General Motors says the new OnStar mirror has been certified to be compatible with “99 percent of the top 20 selling non-GM vehicles over the last 10 years, or approximately 55 million cars and trucks.” And of course, the company will continue to certify new vehicles as time goes on.
“For years, thousands of drivers have asked us to get OnStar in vehicles that didn’t feature it as standard,” said Chris Preuss, OnStar president. “With the retail product that we’ve introduced today they certainly can. This move into the consumer electronics space represents the biggest development in our business model since introducing OnStar as standard across all GM products several years ago. It represents a quantum leap forward in our plans to grow our business and provide a strong new revenue base for GM and OnStar from which we can further develop our core offerings in the factory-equipped market.”
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