An iSuppli analyst is forecasting that OnStar will sell around 230,000 units of its upcoming $299 retail mirror in calendar 2011 and then work its way up to 1 million units a year.
Long time automotive analyst Egil Juliussen of iSuppli is giving us his best estimate, as the product isn’t due to hit store shelves until sometime this spring, and we don’t have an exact ship date. We do know the mirror should be offered in about 3,000 store outlets including Best Buy locations.
“Just Best Buy alone can do a lot of movement. There’s probably a pent up demand from people who want it. For me, it’s a million unit product per year, whether it’s in two years or four years,” he said.
Also retail mirror owners may prove more likely to renew their subscriptions to OnStar over the course of 3 or 4 years. “They’ve made a decision that they really want this in their car. It’s not just in their car whether they want it or not, so they….are going to have more loyal customers for these,” he added.
Currently the renewal rate for OnStar in GM cars is just over 50 percent.
A new iSuppli report forecasts that OnStar will grow its subscriber base among GM car buyers to 7.9 million by the end of 2017, up from about 5.1 million in 2010.
Actual OnStar sales in new GM cars should increase to 3.2 million units in 2017, up from 2.1 million in 2010. The gains will derive from increasing car sales. And the renewal rate for the service—which is free for the first year—should climb into the 60 percent range in 2011 and remain there for several years, said iSuppli.
OnStar offers services including automatic collision notification, stolen vehicle assistance, on-board navigation, remote door unlock, mobile phone remote control, and destination download from Google/Mapquest, iSuppli analyst Anna Buettner said, “OnStar has delivered a suite of services that motorists like. OnStar will continue to add compelling services in the future, such as remote software upgrade of electronic control units (ECUs).”
For more on OnStar’s retail mirror, distributed by Ingram Micro click here and here.
Source: iSuppli
iSuppli analyst Anna Buettner is wrong. If this product launches in spring, she’s forecasting 25K units per month. On a subscription based product. Wow. Cool product and I am sure there is some consumer demand, but I think they should be happy to sell 2500 units per month. But they won’t be, so in six months this product will be gone from our mix.
I didn’t use the one that was stock in my vehicle even with the free service.
Look at the size of that thing! In your window…really? They will sell some, but 1 million units per year is an awful lot to plan on.
“a pent up demand from people who want it” SERIOUSLY! I just don’t see the demand for this product. Everyone I talk to does not pay for the service, once the free service runs out.