Telematics goes to China

General Motors, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation Group (SAIC) and OnStar have established a telematics joint venture in China.

The Shanghai OnStar Telematics Company is OnStar’s first venture outside North America in its eleven year history.

The Shanghai-based joint venture will provide a range of OnStar’s in-vehicle safety, security and communication services similar to those currently available in the US and Canada, including  automatic crash notification, roadside assistance, remote door unlock, hands-free calling, vehicle diagnostics and turn-by-turn navigation.

The company expects to begin rolling out its services in 2009, initially for vehicles manufactured and distributed in China by Shanghai GM.

OnStar, a subsidiary of General Motors, and Shanghai Automotive Industry Sales (SAISC), a subsidiary of SAIC, each own 40 percent of Shanghai OnStar Telematics. Shanghai GM, a 50-50 joint venture of GM and SAIC, owns the remaining 20 percent.

'Over the past decade, GM and SAIC have established eight joint ventures that are engaged in vehicle and powertrain manufacturing, sales and service, automotive engineering and design, automotive financing, and now telematics,' said GM China Group president and managing director Kevin Wale.