Geneva motor show: Is Opel’s On-Star more important than its new cars?

With more and more buyers citing digital connectivity as a serious consideration when it comes to buying a new car, Opel's OnStar system could be arriving at a significant point for the German brand. OnStar has already been on sale for some time in the US and Canada, where in various General Motors models it has already racked up seven million customers.

Essentially it's a fully-connected infotainment and navigation system which has the benefit of having an actual, real human being waiting at the other end of a phone line in a call centre should you need any help, either with the system itself or just getting to where you want to go. When it rolls out in Ireland the call centre in question will be located in Luton, England.

OnStar is now also full smartphone enabled, and comes with an app which allows remote access to the car's various systems including tyre pressures (something most people hardly ever check by conventional means) and the locking system.

OnStar can also be used as a tracking device should the car be stolen, while it will also send a monthly diagnostic report to you and to Opel, hopefully flagging up potential maintenance problems before they become maintenance disasters.

One of its most significant features however is in terms of safety. If the car is in a collision and airbags have been deployed the call centre is automatically notified and will dial into the car. They can then check on the condition of those involved, see if emergency services are needed and advise on recovery vehicle call-out. If the centre gets no response from thecar it can then locate the car using GPS and send emergency services to the scene. The centre staff get information on the severity of the damage and impact.

On a lighter note you can contact the centre to help you with an address and once identified the centre staff and input it remotely into your sat-nav and set as the destination.

Concerns over privacy are also addressed with a button on the rearview mirror that blocks out any geolocation information from being sent from the car. This is over-ridden in the event of a crash or if the car is stolen.

There's also a built-in wifi hotspot, which allows passengers to stream content to their mobile devices and allows anyone to use the car as a mobile office when on the move.

OnStar will go on sale here in August, although no prices have been set either for the system itself or for the monthly connectivity fee. Opel will be keen to keep prices for both low though, so as to encourage tech-savvy early adopters.

Opel will offer the system with free connectivity for the first 12 months, confident that owners will find it invaluable in their daily motoring life.