Currently, about half of new Vauxhall/Opel models delivered in Europe feature OnStar, with customers able to contact a trained advisor using the built-in blue OnStar service button, or the mobile app.

Automatic Crash Response means that if the car is involved in an accident and the airbags inflate, the driver is immediately connected to a Vauxhall OnStar advisor. A vehicle data report is simultaneously sent to the Service Centre and emergency services will immediately be notified to attend the scene of the accident if necessary.

The Vauxhall OnStar service can also remotely unlock doors, download driving routes directly to the vehicle’s factory-installed navigation system, provide assistance in case of a vehicle breakdown, and send emails on vehicle health. In addition to providing a personal onboard assistant, OnStar also creates a 4G/LTE Wi-Fi hotspot in your car, with a stable internet connection for up to seven devices.

“The excellent user numbers prove that OnStar is a resounding success. Less than a year after launch, our personal onboard assistant is well on its way to becoming the helpful assistant every driver of a Vauxhall passenger car wants to have at their side,” commented Tina Müller, chief marketing officer Vauxhall/Opel. “The 4G LTE Wi-Fi Hotspot is a big hit with the smartphone generation, while services such as automatic Emergency Call Service and Roadside Assistance provide everyone with the safety and security they long to have when driving.”

The most popular element of OnStar is the myVauxhall mobile app (myOpel elsewhere in Europe), which to date has been launched around 700,000 times by customers on their smartphones. The app’s most popular features so far are remote locking/unlocking of doors, online vehicle location and honking the vehicle’s horn and flashing its lights, which is especially useful in congested car parks. Customers can also view important data such as oil condition, fuel range, and tyre pressures, send destinations to the factory-installed in-car navigation system and manage the car’s Wi-Fi hotspot.

Since launching last year OnStar has received about 300,000 calls from customers and sent more than 150,000 monthly vehicle diagnostics emails. On the internet, customers have accessed OnStar online around 300,000 times.

OnStar is available across the Vauxhall/Opel passenger car range on a wide range of trims across all models. The service is currently offered to customers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, with an additional 18 countries set to be introduced by August 2016.