General Motors announced today that it is teaming up with RelayRides, the world’s first peer-to-peer car sharing  marketplace, to allow millions of GM vehicle owners to leverage the OnStar system to rent out their idle cars through the RelayRides marketplace.

RelayRides allows vehicle owners to rent out their idle vehicles, with the owner of the vehicle controlling the rates and availability of the car. RelayRides provides an online marketplace and a $1 million insurance policy to make the transaction safe and convenient.

“We’re using technology to make both our older and newest models carshare ready and available for those owners who choose to participate in carsharing,” said Stephen Girsky, GM vice chairman. “Our goal is to find ways to broaden our customer reach, reduce traffic congestion in America’s largest cities and address urban mobility concerns.”

RelayRides will use OnStar to allow RelayRides borrowers to unlock Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC cars with their mobile phones. For vehicles that don’t have OnStar, RelayRides will install a small device in the car to provide convenient access to borrowers. The integration makes all eligible OnStar vehicles immediately ‘RelayRides ready’ without having to install additional hardware.

The partnership between GM and RelayRides will start in early 2012.

- By: Omar Rana