General Motors (GM) has decided to relaunch its auto insurance division to tap into newer revenue using growing numbers of connected vehicles in the U.S and associated data.
This new business will be relaunched under OnStar connectivity brand that will offer coverage to about 1,000 GM employees in Arizona and later it will be rolled out to its 85,100 U.S. employees followed by the general public by next year.
Andrew Rose, president of OnStar Insurance Services said, “GM has been a material player in that market before. We hope that we can return to being a material player in that market again. Auto insurance is a $250 billion marketplace.”
OnStar Insurance will also provide its offerings to Non-GM owners but additional discounts will be provided to GM owners or subscribers of their services. However, the discounts for GM owners will be given to the owner who will allow the company to monitor their driving habits.
GM has already been monitoring such data for some of the vehicles as a part of its partnership deal with State Farm and Progressive.
According to the company, its Smart Driver program provides feedback for nearly 19 million trips on a daily basis and it has almost 7 million customers enrolled since the program was launched in 2016.
Rose supporting the news said, “Consumers have chosen, with their consent, to share their driving data with GM. With that information, we can let you know you can get savings because you are safe driving or not. And we can give you coaching as time goes by to become a better, safer driver.”
