Vauxhall and associated companies celebrate ast ONSTAR hits the One Billion requests from it's customers.

• Successful around the world: Your personal connectivity and service assistant
• 24/7 365 days a year: Customers contact OnStar via phone, mobile app, vehicle
• Pole position: Astra first completely new model with OnStar

OnStar has fielded more than 1 billion requests from customers, who interact by phone, mobile app or embedded cellular service in their cars and trucks. Launched nearly 19 years ago as an industry-first service that would place a call from the vehicle when an air bag deployed, OnStar today remotely unlocks doors, loads driving directions directly to the vehicle, compiles and sends emails on vehicle health.3

A customer contacts OnStar every two seconds. That adds up to about 5 million calls a month from its subscriber base of more than 7 million. Add 8.8 million interactions a month from the mobile app and you can see how indispensable OnStar has become since launching in 1996.

“OnStar created the original connected car in 1996 and today remains at the forefront of innovation through the services offered in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and soon, Vauxhall vehicles around the globe,” said Alicia Boler-Davis, senior vice president, General Motors Global Connected Customer Experience. “The pace at which the brand has reached 1 billion interactions shows the vast customer demand for vehicle connectivity and there’s no doubt our second billion interactions will come even quicker.”

The Vauxhall OnStar connectivity and service assistant will be launched in Europe on August 3, 2015.

The next generation of the Astra, which will celebrate its debut at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (September 17 to 27), will be the first completely new Vauxhall model to be available with OnStar. The system can also be ordered for ADAM, Cascada, Corsa, Insignia, Meriva, Mokka and Zafira Tourer in certain markets. 

The first introduction wave will see OnStar being rolled out in 13 European markets, those being Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain, with additional countries following later. Customers will be able to use the entire service portfolio provided by OnStar including the 24-hour Emergency Call Service free of charge for the first 12 months after registration.

Smartphone owners will be able to connect to their vehicle remotely with a Smartphone App. In addition, OnStar will assist vehicle owners and police alike in case a vehicle with the system is stolen.

OnStar can also provide subscribers with a monthly Vehicle Diagnostics email with the most important vehicle data and information. Furthermore, a diagnostics check can be requested at any time at the push of a button, thus providing peace of mind before setting off on a longer journey.

OnStar subscribers will be in complete control of their data and the services they receive. Before the services are activated they will have to agree to the terms and conditions. They will be able to choose whether they want to reveal their current location – at a push of the Privacy Button their position will be masked.

By the numbers, here is what 1 billion interactions looks like:

5.5 million Emergency Services delivered.

• 156 million mobile app requests.
• Delivered Roadside Assistance more than 3.9 million times.
• More than 390 million Vehicle Diagnostic reports delivered.

OnStar has even helped deliver babies and works with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to track Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

Before becoming known as OnStar, the original name for the service was Project Beacon. Its goal was integrating wireless communication into vehicles, years before mass adoption of smartphones.

In the fall of 1996, OnStar debuted in the Cadillac DeVille, Seville and Eldorado. The service initially offered Airbag Deployment Notifications, the core of OnStar’s safety and security premise, which progressed into Automatic Crash Response that uses sensors capable of determining the severity of a crash impact and alerting an OnStar emergency advisor to assist. OnStar today responds to more than 100,000 emergency calls every month.