HOLDEN ANNOUNCES GAME-CHANGING ONSTAR TECHNOLOGY
GM International’s President, Barry Engle announced in Auckland today that every new Holden launched from late 2019 will have the capability to be connected to the internet.
HOLDEN ANNOUNCES GAME-CHANGING ONSTAR TECHNOLOGY
GM International’s President, Barry Engle announced in Auckland today that every new Holden launched from late 2019 will have the capability to be connected to the internet.
As part of Holden’s multi-year investment programme in New Zealand, the company will introduce GM’s unique Onstar technology, offering customers connectivity and peace of mind like no other brand.
Speaking at the official New Zealand unveiling of the new generation Commodore range, Mr Engle said vehicle connectivity is the beginning of its pathway towards realising GM’s vision for a future with zero collisions, zero congestion and zero emissions.
“The connectivity of today’s cars to its users as well as infrastructure is the first important step towards this mobility future. Onstar technology is a key investment in Holden’s very exciting future in New Zealand,” Mr Engle said.
Already launched in North America, OnStar offers a suite of emergency, security, navigation, connections as well as vehicle management services.
OnStar serves nearly 13 million members in the U.S., Canada, China, Mexico, Europe and South America. It offers a range of standard, subscription and a la carte services such as a mobile app, Advanced Diagnostics, Automatic Crash Response, Stolen Vehicle Assistance, Market Place, OnStar Smart Driver and 4G LTE Wi-Fi.
In 2016, OnStar surpassed 1.5 billion customer interactions and leads the industry with nearly six million 4G LTE Wi-Fi equipped-vehicles world-wide.
OnStar offerings are broken into five key streams:
Emergency: Automatic Crash Response, Emergency Services, Crisis Assist and Roadside Assistance
Security: Stolen Vehicle Assistance, including Remote Ignition Block, Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, and Theft Alarm Notification, Family Link
Navigation & Commerce: Turn-By-Turn Navigation and special owner offers through Marketplace
Connectivity: OnStar with 4G LTE and Wi-Fi Hotspot and Hands-Free Calling.
Vehicle Management: Advanced Diagnostics, OnStar Smart Driver, Remote Access and Location Manager
OnStar will offer New Zealand customers a proven 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.
OnStar will also provide unmatched security with the ability to 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.
In addition, it provides real-time health checks of your vehicle to better tailor maintenance requirements to your specific driving conditions, and allows customers to use their mobile phone to monitor and track the health and service requirements of their vehicles via the MyHolden app.
The convenience of being able to remotely lock and unlock your vehicle wherever you might be in the world as well as assistance in helping find your vehicle in a crowded car park, not just through location but by remote activation of the vehicle horn and hazard flashers.
Furthermore, OnStar provides the ability to become a safer and more fuel-efficient driver by obtaining direct feedback on your driving style and techniques.
For business users, Holden will be able to provide a range of services to assist companies to promote a safe workplace when employees are in vehicles as well as full telematics capability.
Holden New Zealand Managing Director, Kristian Aquilina said 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.
"OnStar’s human touch is what makes it unique and differentiates it from other telematics services in the market. Once we connect you to your car remotely, the possibilities to enhance the Holden ownership experience are endless,” said Mr Aquilina.
“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 Aquilina.
Additional information about Onstar availability, service and pricing will be announced closer to launch.
At a glance, OnStar is planning to offer the following services in New Zealand as a minimum:
• Automatic Crash Response
• 24/7 Emergency Services
• Stolen Vehicle Assistance
• Vehicle Diagnostics
• MyHolden Mobile Application
• Remote Start and Door Unlock
• In-vehicle 4G LTE Wi-Fi internet hotspots with ability to connect up to seven devices