I think this is where GM should focus the most attention.

Factory developed and dealer installed hardware carries a MUCH greater appeal to a person like me who wants the "good stuff", but doesn't have the time to research the aftermarket and roll the dice on a part that might or might not be worth a damn.

With a 5th gen, I would want to sit down with my dealer, order my car, pick out my GMPP stuff and get a phone call when the car is in and ready. One stop shopping, one note all with a factory warranty. Perhaps some sort of credit could be offered for the OEM stuff thus lowering the price of the GMPP equipment.

This concept is not new (conversion vans, etc...) but the execution has been very poor in the past, IMO. As with anything else, do it right or don't bother.

 

That sounds reasonable. And maybe those steel wheels can come with tires that work well in snow, saving the need to purchase a new set.

 

Definitely a good idea. I think a number of buyers would be interested in factory backed "dealer installed" parts, especially if it carries the warranty and can be rolled into the intial finance transaction. Sure, you are going to have nay-saying DIYs, but only if the price is too high compared to the aftermarket.

Personally, I would be most interested in a fairly basic 6 speed car, with mild suspension mods, heavy duty cooling components, and wheel/tire options for track days. That's pretty much the old B4C or 1LE package with new wheel/tire options.

Seat options might be something new to offer as well ... I imagine the standard seat will be bolstered more for daily driving for people of all sizes. Instead of attempting to make an infinitely adjustable one size fits all seat, why not just offer 2 - 3 different partially adjustable seats to accomodate various need/desires of the owner. That's a pretty simple bolt in item for a dealer that would truly customize the interior of the car to the owner.

 

while GM has offically named, what we call rice, as tuner's... i think that tuner camaro would be a bad idea IMO...

but... it would be nice to see GMPP back in full the camaro, and keep in contact with its buyers, about upgrades that they can get done at their local dealership... send them 2-3 page magazines about what is new about camaros... TRD (Toyota Racing Development) does it with my brothers car (Toyota Matrix XRS)... why not have GMPP do it with Camaros & Cobalts?

 

i wish you worked for GM Charlie . i think this is a great idea.

i like the idea of being able to order a "clean slate" car and have the ability to mix and match options tailored to my liking. i know the option packages are designed with the intention of grouping together commonly ordered accesories, but there are people out there that don't want everything that they include. i would love to be able to go down a list of items and select what I need in my car, not what GM thinks i would order. i have never kept any of my cars stock, be it radio, wheels, exhaust, and so on because i always change what i don't like. it'd be nice to not have to pay for these things if they are coming off anyway in the first 6 months i own the car.

 

Radio is probably a no-go. The radio is always integrated into the data bus (for DIC, etc). Everything else could be done, but I don't see radio happening.

 

I would rather order the car with parts I want than with even crappier parts I have to replace.

 

What is missing in what is said above is that over 90% of people that would buy a new Camaro or anything will not hardly ever change anything about it much. Look at how many SS cars were built and sold and any given year over a RS or Z/28 and thats about what you can look at when you think alot will change a car much. I am hard core performance and speed and power first of all and will buy top of the line or not at all but am a small group of people and same goes for what you are talking about.

 

What about a nice 5th gen equivalent of the old mustang lx 5.0 would be cool. I personally don’t have the need for every bell and whistle.

 

Actually, most factories are going the opposite direction. Many have went from offering a lot of "SE" or optional equipment to offering a few high selling packages.
They don't need to keep large varieties of parts in inventory, which they pay tax on, and higher first time quality, b/c workers have less parts, procedures, and tools to keep up with.
I personally think they're wrong, variety keeps loyalty.
But maybe with the "outsourcing", the suppliers will foot the taxes, and they can offer more like you say.

But, even if you have to remove & replace some parts to get the performance you want, you can always sell, nearly-new stock parts and recover much of your investment.

We had the 1LE's, but everyone made cases against producing them, based on sales history, as I remember.
I would, love to see GMPP have a bunch of goodies readily available for Dealer-install though. So you could maintain your warantee and customize your performance level desired.
Supercharger AND Turbo kits would be GREAT!...especially for a V6 version.

 

Why not customize? Toyota's Scion did it and look at them. They blew up and now it isn't a bad company.

What are the laws regarding this? If GM offers in-the-trunk headers, or cam, will those items be covered under the law the same way GM is, with the limitations, regulations?