A stolen Vauxhall has been quickly reunited with it owner thanks to Vauxhall OnStar, a personal connectivity and service assistant that tracked the stolen vehicle.
Having parked up outside his workplace in central Glasgow, James Watson was forced out of his vehicle by a thief who stole his new Vauxhall Astra.
When reporting the incident to the police, Watson pointed out that the vehicle was equipped with Vauxhall OnStar, meaning it had a GPS locator that would help recover the vehicle.
Working directly with the OnStar team, the police found the car at a petrol station four miles away and apprehended the offender.
OnStar’s stolen vehicle assistance feature also allowed the operator to remotely deactivate the ignition when the thief turned off the engine, giving the police the opportunity to recover the vehicle undamaged.
“It was a terrible experience, one I wouldn’t wish on anybody else,” said James Watson.
“After the initial shock of what happened subsided, I realised that we could locate the car – and probably the offender – through OnStar. I’m really grateful that the technology was in place to recover the vehicle so quickly, helping me to get back on the road knowing the thief had been caught.”
“This was a horrible experience for James and we are sorry to hear that he was a victim of crime,” said Mike Lee, UK Head, OnStar Strategy and Planning.
“We are relieved that the technology in the car could assist the police in recovering his car and apprehending this criminal.”
Following the recovery of the vehicle, the offender was sentenced to 10 months, 15 days in jail and disqualified from driving for nine months.
In addition to stolen vehicle assistance, OnStar features include automatic crash response, destination download, 4G Wi-Fi hotspot, smartphone connectivity and vehicle diagnostics.
The OnStar service is not currently available in New Zealand due to the extensive infrastructure the technology requires to operate.
However, the Holden Astra and next-generation Commodore will arrive on our shores fitted with the hardware needed for OnStar to run.