OSHAWA, ON – Today, General Motors of Canada and OnStar demonstrated technology that assists in the safe recovery of subscribers’ stolen vehicles.  Stolen Vehicle Slowdown sends a signal to a subscriber’s stolen vehicle to reduce engine power slowing the vehicle down gradually.

“From its inception, the motivation behind OnStar has been the safety and security of our customers and others on the road,” said Marc Comeau, vice president, sales, service and marketing, GM Canada.  “Every service we add builds on this original promise.  Stolen Vehicle Slowdown allows our customers added peace of mind by helping in the safe recovery of a stolen vehicle.”

Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is an enhancement to OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance, which has been available since 1998.  Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance uses Global Positioning Satellite technology to pinpoint the location of a vehicle that has been reported stolen.  OnStar provides the location to law enforcement to assist with the vehicle’s recovery.  OnStar receives approximately 700 Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance requests from North American customers a month. 

The process for Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is:

• Once the vehicle has been reported stolen to law enforcement, the subscriber calls OnStar and requests Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance. 

• OnStar uses real-time GPS technology to pinpoint the exact location of the stolen vehicle and provides this information to law enforcement to help them recover the vehicle.

• When law enforcement has established a clear line of sight of the stolen vehicle, law enforcement requests OnStar to slow it down remotely. 

• Safeguards are in place to ensure that the correct vehicle is slowed down.  The vehicle’s parking lights will flash so that law enforcement can verify they have located the vehicle and that it is safe to slow the vehicle.

• OnStar then sends a remote signal to the vehicle that interacts with the Powertrain system to reduce engine power which slows the vehicle down gradually.

Research has shown that 95 percent of OnStar subscribers want the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown service available on their cars and trucks.  OnStar subscribers have the choice to opt-out of the Stolen Vehicle Slowdown service at any time by contacting OnStar if they prefer not to have this capability on their vehicle.  This will not affect the rest of their OnStar services.

Powered by OnStar’s newest generation of hardware (Generation 8), Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is available on approximately 1.6 million GM Model Year (MY) 2009 vehicles.

OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is a GM-exclusive feature in Canada and the U.S. and is included in the one year OnStar subscription that customers receive when purchasing an eligible MY 2009 OnStar-equipped vehicle.  OnStar’s suite of services also includes Advanced Automatic Crash Notification, Emergency Services, Remote Door Unlock, Roadside Assistance, Crisis Assist, OnStar Turn-by-Turn Navigation, Hands Free Calling and OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics.  For more information regarding OnStar’s services, please visit www.onstar.com.