• by Aaron Baar , January 5, 2011

LAS VEGAS--OnStar soon won't just be for Chevy (or Buick or Voit or Buick or any GM vehicle).

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, OnStar president Chris Preuss introduced a product that will allow owners of cars not made by company parent General Motors to have the same service familiar to so many consumers: an OnStar-enabled aftermarket rear-view mirror.

"If we're going to get value for the OnStar brand, we can't just be in the GM [cars]," Preuss said at a news conference. "The brand is highly respected and trusted. That gives us a chance to expand in ways we hadn't considered."

The mirror, which will be available exclusively at Best Buy stores later this year, will retail for $299 (plus installation costs) and come with an $18.95 monthly service fee (or $199 per year). In introducing the product, Preuss said the move will continue the company's leadership in the connected automobile.

"This is a transformative move for our business, and it's a bold move for our vehicle services," Preuss said.

OnStar's personal connection -- a voice at the other end of the button, as Preuss put it -- is what sets the service apart from the many other connected services offered by other automakers, Preuss said. "The infotainment things [offered by others] are important, but, frankly, they're going to be commodities going forward," Preuss said. "In this world of high-tech everything, we have the most complex thing available and that's a human being."

Since its introduction in 1997 vehicles, OnStar has amassed 65% unaided consumer awareness, Preuss says. The company also views the service as more than just a product; it's a marketing tool, providing advanced customer relationship management and data analysis. "We get 3 million button pushes a month. That's 66 million voice-to-voice communications with customers a year," Preuss said. "Now we're going to be talking to many, many more."