13-million strong service to revolutionise Australian market.
Holden is set to introduce a new comfort/convenience/safety innovation to their cars called ‘OnStar,’ a push-button concierge service that offers the convenience of a connected vehicle as well as the reassurance of key safety features. OnStar is set to revolutionise the customer experience as it gets rolled out through the Holden range, with the first iterations to arrive the new Holden Equinox SUV.
While Holden is telling you this is a new product, it sort of isn’t. OnStar is essentially a wider-reaching and more practical iteration of ‘Holden Assist,’ a service that was rolled out in the early noughties in the Holden Calais and Caprice, as well as the HSV (as an option, naturally). While that was offered as a $1990 option at the time (buying you a three-year subscription, working out to a little over $55/month), the new OnStar service will be offered as a subscription, with multiple tiers offered depending on customer demands.
The fee package wasn’t detailed, but we’re told that it will be a month-bill type affair. In OnStar form, Holden expects features like the emergency contact button, 4G wifi connectivity, theft alarm notification, ‘Family Link’ capability, remote access and location tracking to do well among customers.
Holden OnStar will be serviced by a dedicated OnStar Hub by Holden themselves, which will go on to service other Asia-Pacific markets in the future. In charge of this division will be ex-sales boss Peter Keley, who will assume the position of managing director of OnStar General Motors International.
“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.” — Peter Keley, Managing Director, OnStar General Motors International
OnStar has been online since 1996, initially rolled out to the North American market before being extended to South America, Europe, and China. While Holden Assist was eventually killed off due to lacklustre reception, OnStar has gone on to register some 13-million subscribers, with plenty more waiting to be unlocked once it arrives Down Under in 2019.
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