GM halts in-vehicle shopping app, looks to possibly bring better service

General Motors is phasing out its Marketplace app on millions of vehicles as it studies a better in-vehicle-purchase software replacement.

The move is part of GM’s quest, which it outlined last October during its Investor Day, to reach $20 billion to $25 billion in revenue from its various subscription services by the end of the decade. 

Based on spy photos, the touch screen in a Chevy Silverado.

“We view e-commerce as a key component and we’re working on that,” GM spokeswoman Stephanie Obendorfer told the Detroit Free Press. “We’re looking to iterate it and improve it based on the learnings from Marketplace.”

But Obendorfer was careful to say GM is “continuing to evaluate our customer needs and services. We have nothing to announce at this time in terms of a replacement.”

Marketplace merchants and customers

GM rolled out Marketplace in 2017. It is now on most 2017-22 model year GM vehicles. It allows drivers to buy coffee, doughnuts, make restaurant and hotel reservations and even prepay for gasoline, all from the road using a dashboard touch screen. 

More:General Motors’ Marketplace tracks drivers’ buying preferences

Marketplace is part of GM’s “Connected Access” plan, which is included with a vehicle purchase for up to 10 years, Obendorfer said. So it was essentially free for the vehicles that had it, she said. 

That’s because the merchants on it subsidized the cost. It includes 10 vendors: Shell, ExxonMobile, Dunkin’ donuts, Domino’s Pizza, Applebee’s, IHOP, Office Depot, Yelp, Priceline.com and Delivery.com.

General Motors' Marketplace app allows customers to order food, find the closest gas station and make dinner and hotel reservations while driving.

Obendorfer declined to share how many GM car owners used Marketplace, but during its Investor Day in October, GM said it had 16 million connected vehicles and 4.2 million paying customers for various GM subscription services. 

On Friday, GM emailed those owners who have Marketplace to notify them that starting in mid-March the service will no longer be available.

In the email, which GM shared with the Free Press, it said: “We routinely evaluate our services to ensure they provide the best experience for our members. In this spirit, we have decided to discontinue our Marketplace services. After March 2022, all accounts with Marketplace vendors will automatically be de-linked and proper cybersecurity measures will be followed to remove and delete all personal information.”

GM’s subscription services

Currently GM offers a handful of customer-pay subscription services such as OnStar and OnStar Guardian mobile app, which is available to owners of non-GM vehicles. OnStar services include in-vehicle security, emergency services, hands-free calling, turn-by-turn navigation and remote diagnostics systems.

More:GM offers OnStar service to drivers of any vehicle in US, Canada

Chevy Blazers come with the GM Marketplace system of apps for shopping and more.

OnStar starts at $30 per month for the safety and security plan and access to OnStar Guardian, Obendorfer said. The website www.onstar.com lists all plans and pricing.

Starting at $15 a month GM car owners can get the App Access plan, which allows them to stream music app Spotify, Pandora, The Weather Channel, real-time traffic updates with GMC Maps+, Connected Navigation and more from their touchscreen or through Alexa.

GM also sells its in-vehicle WiFi data plan, which starts at $25 a month, Obendorfer said. It provides unlimited data in the car so that all occupants can connect to a hotspot to stream videos or work on the road. 

Last October, GM said it would get $2 billion in subscription service revenue during calendar year 2021. That accounted for more than 70% of GM’s global earnings before interest and taxes margin.