OnStar to offer service e-mails!

By Jamie LaReau--Automotive News / September 13, 2005

DETROIT -- As General Motors attempts to promote value over incentives, the automaker and OnStar now are offering vehicle diagnostics service to subscribers at no extra charge. The service will automatically perform hundreds of diagnostics checks on GM vehicles in four of the vehicle's operating systems: the engine/transmission, antilock brakes, airbags and OnStar. OnStar will e-mail the results to the owner each month. The e-mail message will tell subscribers whether something needs to be fixed and encourage the owner to hit the OnStar button in the vehicle to follow up with an OnStar technician for guidance.

Ultimately, the service is intended to gives consumers peace of mind and boost GM customer loyalty. Competitive edge The vehicle diagnostics technology will add to the conquest and loyalty rate among customers for GM vehicles, says Chet Huber, OnStar president. "You're always looking for where you have a competitive edge. We have OnStar and they don't," says Mark LaNeve, vice president of GM's vehicle sales, service and marketing. LaNeve says OnStar will promote the technology, and GM will incorporate it within GM divisional advertising. Anecdotal data from dealers show that OnStar, which GM owns, has helped generate about 20 percent of showroom traffic this year, twice the rate of the year-ago period, Huber says. OnStar is a factor in a customer's decision to buy a vehicle, LaNeve adds. LaNeve declined to specify how much GM is spending to embed the vehicle diagnostics technology in OnStar's hardware. He calls it a "significant investment."

"In an era of really intense competition, we're exclusively trying to drive our price points down in a lot of segments we compete in, and adding any content is a tough decision," LaNeve says. "We wouldn't have done this without a business case that makes sense, and more importantly, (offers) clear evidence of customer value." Nearly 30,000 times a month, OnStar subscribers use the remote diagnostics service to check vehicle performance problems or ask questions. Huber estimates 75 percent of OnStar subscribers will opt to use the diagnostics service. The service is available with basic OnStar service. OnStar is free during the first year of vehicle ownership. After that, the basic service costs $16.95 a month.