
OnStar is owned by General Motors Company, a publicly traded American automotive manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, trading on NYSE under ticker GM. OnStar launched in 1996 as the industry's first embedded telematics service and reached a record 12 million global subscribers at the end of 2025, including more than 625,000 Super Cruise hands-free driving subscribers and 2 million fleet subscriptions.
Parent Company
Founded
1996
Status
Publicly Traded
Headquarters
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| OnStar | General Motors Company | Wholly owned |
OnStar debuted at the 1996 Chicago Auto Show and launched commercially on 1997 model year Cadillacs, developed with SBC Communications and Hughes Electronics. It pioneered embedded cellular telematics: a blue button connecting drivers to live advisors for emergency response, roadside assistance, and navigation.
Signature services accumulated over time. Automatic Crash Response notified advisors of collisions without driver action, Stolen Vehicle Assistance helped law enforcement recover vehicles, and Turn-by-Turn Navigation arrived before smartphone maps were common. By the mid-2000s OnStar had millions of subscribers and influenced safety regulations worldwide.
GM expanded OnStar into a software platform in the 2020s. Super Cruise, launched on the 2018 Cadillac CT6 and migrated across the lineup, delivers hands-free highway driving on more than 750,000 mapped miles. OnStar services became bundled with GM's connected vehicle strategy, and the service passed 11 million subscribers in 2025 before closing the year at a record 12 million. Fleet telematics under OnStar Business Solutions doubled competitor scale at 2 million subscriptions.
What does General Motors own?
General Motors owns four automotive brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac. The company also owns GM Financial (captive finance), Cruise (autonomous vehicles), and OnStar (connected vehicle services). GM operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China (through joint ventures), Brazil, and South Korea. GM previously owned Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and Opel/Vauxhall, all of which were divested or discontinued.
Is General Motors publicly traded?
Yes, General Motors is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker GM. The company relisted on the NYSE in November 2010 following its emergence from bankruptcy in 2009. GM has no controlling shareholder, and its shares are held primarily by institutional investors. The U.S. government sold its remaining stake in GM in 2013. As of December 31, 2025, the company had 904 million shares outstanding.
What is General Motors' annual revenue?
For fiscal year 2025 (ended December 31, 2025), GM reported revenue of $185.0 billion, down 1.3% from FY2024. EBIT-adjusted was $12.7 billion, at the high end of guidance. Net income was $2.7 billion, reduced by more than $7.2 billion in special charges primarily related to EV capacity realignment. Adjusted EPS was $10.60. The company generated $10.6 billion in adjusted automotive free cash flow.
Who is the CEO of General Motors?
Mary Barra has served as Chairman and CEO since January 2014, making her the first female CEO of a major global automaker. She joined GM in 1980 as a co-op student and rose through the engineering and manufacturing ranks. Under her leadership, GM delivered a 54% total return for shareholders in 2025 and announced a 20% dividend increase and new $6 billion share repurchase authorization for 2026.
What is GM's 2026 guidance?
For 2026, GM projects EBIT-adjusted of $13.0-$15.0 billion, net income of $10.3-$11.7 billion, EPS-diluted of $11.00-$13.00, and adjusted automotive free cash flow of $9.0-$11.0 billion. The company expects North America adjusted profit margins to return to 8-10%, up from 6.8% in 2025. CEO Barra stated that 2026 "should be an even better year for GM."
Who founded General Motors?
General Motors was founded by William Crapo Durant on September 16, 1908, in Flint, Michigan. Durant was a successful carriage manufacturer who had acquired Buick Motor Company in 1904 and used it as the foundation for GM. Alfred P. Sloan Jr. subsequently became the dominant figure in GM's management and is credited with developing the multi-brand strategy.
Where is General Motors headquartered?
General Motors is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The company has been significantly downsizing its headquarters, a move expected to save tens of millions of dollars annually. GM operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Brazil, and South Korea, among other locations.
OnStar services support crash response and stolen vehicle recovery with measurable safety benefits, and fleet telematics helps operators reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Privacy is the brand's central ethics issue: GM settled with the FTC in 2025 over alleged collection and sale of driver location and behavior data to third parties, agreeing to obtain consent and delete previously collected data.
OnStar has been recognized as the foundational automotive telematics service, credited with influencing emergency-call mandates such as Europe's eCall. Super Cruise has won multiple comparison tests against rival hands-free systems, and OnStar surpassed 700 million hands-free Super Cruise miles with no crash attributed to the system.
FTC data privacy action (2025): The FTC alleged GM collected and sold precise geolocation and driving behavior data from millions of vehicles to third parties including data brokers, without adequate consent. GM settled, agreeing to a five-year prohibition on certain disclosures and consent requirements. Several states sued separately over the practice.
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because OnStaroperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
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