OnStar Launches Optional Vehicle-Locating App

NEW YORK – Offering optional applications for its 6 million subscribers, OnStar makes it possible to precisely locate the family car in real time or set up email notifications to relay the location of a family member in a car.

OnStar will charge subscribers $3.99 a month for the Family Link service that rolls out after a pilot run involving 4,500 customers that started in August and ended in January.

“For more than 16 years, OnStar has developed and enhanced our service by listening to our customers,” says Joanne Finnorn, vice president-subscriber services. “They tell us how they use technology and what they want it to do.

“Last year, the 4,500 people in the pilot program told us it provides peace of mind to stay connected with family members when they're on the road.”

OnStar hired a quartet of actors to demonstrate the system’s capabilities to a group of automotive and electronics writers here. This fictional connected family demonstrated how subscribers can locate a family car on a computer monitor by logging on to the Family Link website.

A user name and password is required. Only designated subscribers can locate a vehicle or receive alerts.

The actors demonstrated how a subscriber can set up email notifications at times they choose and the frequency of alerts. By hovering over the located vehicle, the computer displays the address closest to the vehicle's location.

A phased launch has begun and by the end of the year, OnStar plans to invite 1 million subscribers to buy Family Link. Eventually all subscribers will have access to the service.