GM Plans to Boost OnStar, Vehicle Services Subscriptions

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said during the company’s annual Investor Day presentation that GM plans to grow its subscriptions as part of a plan to double revenues.

According to a transcript of her remarks from CNBC, Barra said the company’s “very successful OnStar subscription business” has given GM the knowledge it wanted to do more in that vein.

“We’re going to build on that,” she said. “And what’s enabling this and the ability to offer so many software services is our VIP, or vehicle intelligent platform, that allows us to do over-the-air updates almost to any system in the vehicle,” she said.

GM will be working with sensors and cameras, she said, “leveraging that functionality to provide better value for the customer.”

Barra announced another goal for the company is to lead in electric vehicle (EV) sales, although she didn’t specify a timeline, according to CNBC.

Tesla currently dominates the EV category with 63% of the market share, while GM only has 9%, CNBC reported. GM plans to roll out a new electric Silverado pickup truck in January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

CNBC reported that GM has been “trying to pivot aggressively into using electric and autonomous vehicles as the basis for Software-as-a-Service, using subscription so that you can say, ‘OK, I will pay X amount per month to have this service.’”

In September, PYMNTS reported that GM is trying to transform the ways people use smartphones, with next-generation vehicles now slated to come with over-the-air upgrades, personalization options and app selections.

Read more: GM Moves to Make Connected Vehicles Perform Like Smartphones

The automaker said its intent is to “grow revenue beyond vehicle sales and earn customer loyalty for a lifetime.”

The new upgrades to select next-gen vehicles in the GM roster will begin in 2023. And some upgrades will be able to be saved to authenticated accounts and thus transferred between similarly equipped GM vehicles.