Sometimes, you really do wonder if automakers are listening to their customers. Sure, focus groups for new models are run, but when it comes to general brainwaves, where do you write to? As it turns out, General Motors has something called the New Devices portal, where you can submit just about any idea to the General. You can probably already see where this is going.
As the portal announces, “The General Motors New Devices Section provides our customers and friends who are not General Motors employees with an opportunity to submit ideas, inventions and suggestions.” While you almost certainly won’t get an email back due to the sheer volume of submissions, there’s almost certainly a human looking at what people submit.
The wild part of this portal is that theoretically, there’s nothing to stop hundreds of people asking GM to bring back the Geo Storm, or build dipping sauce holders into their vehicles’ center consoles, or request an off-road ZR2 Corvette. You know, like a Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, but for the people. So, to get your idea juices going, here are a few I’ve already cooked up.
A Virtual Toggle To Decouple Reverse Lights From Courtesy Lighting
For some reason, when you unlock a General Motors vehicle with automatic headlights at night, the reverse lights come on as part of the courtesy lighting package. In a way, I sort of understand. Some areas are both sparsely populated and dimly lit, so a little extra light around the car can make a difference out on the trail or in a dark campsite parking lot. However, most of the time this feature is simply aggravating because people around the vehicle aren’t sure if it’s in park or not. After all, reverse lights are the universal signal that a car is either about to move backwards or is currently moving backwards, and that’s a clear safety function.
How do you give outdoorsy people a little extra light while potentially minimizing confusion in more populated parking lots? It’s simple: Have a virtual toggle for “Courtesy Reverse Lights” and have it switched off by default. That way, people wanting more light can get more light but the majority of vehicles probably won’t be as confusing to passers-by as current models are.
Bringing Back Apple CarPlay
Look, in the wake of GM announcing it’s getting rid of CarPlay, this one’s a no-brainer. While GM’s latest Android Automotive OS user experience does come with built-in Google Maps, signing into apps in a car is unnecessarily clunky, and wireless network support and cost are real concerns for the future. Even though the latest generation of vehicles features integrated 5G connectivity, that technology will eventually become outdated – just look at the 3G sunset of a few years ago as an example. Plus, to access in-vehicle apps like Spotify and Waze, drivers are going to be paying for a plan once the free trial runs out. OnStar One currently runs $34.99 a month, and that feels like a rip-off to use apps you already pay for when your phone has a data plan anyway. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are really just cheap future-proofing for the next generation of used vehicle customers coming into the traditional aftersales stream. If enough people keep complaining, surely GM has to bow to pressure, right?
Augmented Reality Trackday Line And Braking Markers
It’s no secret that General Motors makes some of the best performance cars on sale today, and it’s willing to back up their prowess with warranty support for trackdays. That’s some top-tier stuff, and GM’s Performance Data Recorder for collecting trackday footage is also pretty great. However, what about some racing game-inspired support for newbies to prevent them from blowing braking zones or ending up off-course? From “Forza Horizon” to “iRacing,” pretty much every driving game lets players turn on a virtual driving line complete with braking zones. There’s no reason this can’t be done in real life through a head-up display, so why not add it to the Performance Data Recorder package?
Costco Hot Dogs On Demand Through OnStar Concierge
We’ve all heard “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet,” right? Items ingrained in the American culture, but we haven’t tried all combinations of this mantra yet. Let’s say you’re stuck in traffic and craving something you can eat with one hand. A hamburger probably isn’t the move, and a burrito is liable to fall apart and get sour cream all over the leather. At the same time, GM and Costco have a vehicle discount partnership, so why not bring DoorDash or Uber Eats into the loop, hook it all up through OnStar concierge, and effectively dropship hot dogs to hungry owners? Payment would function like plug-and-charge EV charging, where it would just bill whatever card’s on file, and boom: Glizzys on the go. Scooter riders could even lane-filter where legal to deliver the dogs in traffic jams. Tell me this isn’t a great idea.
Alright, so maybe the hot dog thing is a little far-fetched, but the portal seems wide-open for normal people to suggest ways General Motors can make its future cars better. So, go forth and go nuts. Have fun with it. Who knows? Maybe if enough of us submit the same idea, it might actually happen.
Top graphic image: Cadillac
Absolutely build the Soleil
my god that’s a beauty
naturally aspirated V8, high revving, manual transmission car
Silverado trucks that don’t rust out at the rockers and wheel arches after 6 years. Trucks that have transmissions that actually last at least 20 years without any rebuilds, instead of 2-5 rebuilds in that same time.
They should bring back Saab.
Clearly Buick is the badge that should have been killed off instead of the one that made unique, good vehicles that appealed to people under 70.
Can we get the 2.0L out of the Buick Envision and into a TRAX add AWD and you have a WRC ready platform.
The depth and breadth of comments are brilliant!
Bring back the Astro / Safari.
The world needs a 4wd body on frame midi-van. Perfect for vanlifers and people who need to haul junk.
Having followed 4xoverland’s HiAce build, I concur. The Astro would fit the bill perfectly, as a schmedium van, shorter & maybe slightly taller than the new Ram PMC.
Bring back the Chevy SS!
It can just be a de-contented and restyled next-gen CT5 as long as it has:
That’s it. Especially since the CT4 is going away it would give them a chance to amortize some of the development costs of the big brother Cadillac and still put a lower-priced option out to market for the not-as-well-heeled enthusiast crowd.
A vehicle to go camping in. Built in sleeping quarters. AWD. Maybe some smart features like a built in cooler that’s also removable. Maybe name it after an ancient tribe from Central America. What could go wrong?
Does GM want to build a Homer? Because this is how we get a Homer…
All turn lights should be amber. Secondly, if an OTA update bricks a module GM should have a policy to fix/replace the module for free if out of warranty. (Issue I’m seeing on their EV forums recently). 100% agree on the stupid reverse lights and bringing back car play/android auto.
K5 Blazer
…..annnnnd scene
Low beltlines, thin pillars, big greenhouses. GM has some of the best engineers on the planet. Figure out how to make driving fun again. Toss the poor outward visibility of 2026 on the trash heap.
“…almost certainly a human looking at what people submit.”
Yeah, fat chance! They’ll run it through an AI filter and then let it condense the suggestions down to the top 5 or so.
If the AI is anything like the Design by Committee that brought us the Aztek, then I’m all for it. Bring back the Aztek!
Flood that inbox with demands for Pontiac’s resurrection!
Bring back the Fiero! With blackjack! And hookers!!
Just copy paste any of The Bishop’s GM ideas into the portal, done you have given GM years of new and wonderfully interesting ideas.
Bring back the Holden Pontiacs, but with better build quality.
They can’t. Holden is as dead as Pontiac.
Maybe in a different, better timeline they could have kept each other alive, but not our cursed reality.
This is the company that invented badge engineering; dead brands are not an obstacle!
Maybe they could do it like the GMC Hummer EV; new for 2027, the Chevrolet Pontiac Trans Am!
Offer an Affordable performance car I.E like how the last Cobalt SS was, Since the Camaro is gone, and C8’s are priced like Porsches, Having that affordable performance car would probably bring a lot of the younger enthusiasts into the fold, especially if it’s practical. And market it like it’s one of the trucks, instead of silently producing a sleeper sedan and then killing it because nobody knew what it was.
Please build a car that stabs anyone who complains about the car not having CarPlay. Not stabbed to death, but definitely needing stitches.
HUH?
You must enjoy paying for a separate data plan for your car. Because that’s the direction they’re going. And you’re cheering for them as they do it.
I enjoy having modern features in my car and don’t mind paying for them… but your supposition is that iPhones and CarPlay are free. Dude… we are *already* paying for this. We are just arguing about the price.
I’m paying the same for my phone whether I can use it in my car or not.
I’m not willing to pay again for services in the vehicle when those exact same services are already provided to the hand held device I carry with me all the time.
We aren’t arguing about the price.
We’re arguing about whether to pay more to have a second, duplicative package of services when you’re already carrying a fully paid device with those same services already included in the price.
Further, I upgrade my phone far more than I replace my vehicle, and every time I upgrade my phone, I get a better version of those services. That’s not an option without Android Auto and CarPlay, and the GM versions already start out running on significantly inferior hardware.
Not a GM fan for many decades now.
Is the crotch vent still a thing?
It could be! Go submit your crotch idea to GM.
I came here to say this.
It is beyond me how it took so long for someone to demand the return of the crotch vent. Well done, Rich.
I’m sorry, but why would anyone buy a GM in 2026?
Sure, a Silverado for working in blue-collar settings or a Tahoe to look rich in settings next to the probably richer soccer moms in CR-Vs or a Lexus, but what is the appeal? I guess some are really cheap, some are big and shiny, but I’ve never heard of any being reliable.
Long gone are the days of doing things yourself; they are plastic-covered, oddly engineered to force you to go to the dealership, so the “common person’s car” days are gone. I’ve had one GM, an H2, and that was the biggest joke. Also, during the 2008-2009 gas prices, 8-13 MPG was brutal. Sold it after about a year and just got a G35. Still my favorite car I’ve ever had, but I digress. I know some people love Escalades and swear by the newer Tahoes, but I just can’t justify the prices for an American car. Camaro was my favorite car as a kid, too, but it just doesn’t compete these days with Mustang, let alone other German options, IMO.
My suggestion is to make a reliable, cost-effective car that you can still work on yourself. (that looks good)
Maybe because they make quality cars? https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2026-us-vehicle-dependability-study-vds
You believe that PR BS? Also has Chevy near the top, but GMC (same cars) near the middle bottom lol.
You are a oddly put together bot with a weird douche bag past
Yet you follow me on a car blog; that’s just weird. It’s called being 18 and getting an H2, then I grew up. This “car blog” is full of GM truck lovers, kind of odd. I just imagine grumpy, broke old dudes.
Wrong. GMC doesn’t sell the “same cars” as Chevrolet. They sell a subset. There are multiple high volume cars that Chevrolet sells that are not offered in the GMC lineup.
You bought a 6,600+ lb 4WD luxury SUV with a 393-hp 6.2L V8 engine with the aerodynamic properties of a brick and you complain about the gas mileage ? What in the world did you expect ?
I was 18, and it was obnoxious and hilarious at the same time. The fog light on one side was always going out, but the same issue occurred on most Chevy trucks.
Serious: Make a GM bronco/wrangler fighter, and don’t screw it up. You know damn well what we would want: 2 door option, V8, manual trans option, CHAIN driven transfer case, priced to compete with the wrangler. No 50,000 dollar 2 doors.
Unlikely but you should do it anyway : Give us an El Camino
Unhinged: just bring back that Square body. K5, Suburban, pickup.
Not a thing changed. Wing windows, 2 keys, TBI 350. The parts exist. Build it you cowards.
The GM Bronco/Wrangler fighter I would be all over. Not another cross over. Something that can actually off-road, 2-door, functional.
Also I would love the return of the K5, Suburban, and pickup.
If these things actually occurred, I might actually buy a GM vehicle again.
What are you bitchin about. they brought back the blazer
Everybody from common enthusiasts to industry insiders were vocal about hopes for GM to come firing with a true Sport utility 4×4; especially once we all found out ford was bringing the bronco back.
GM knew what we wanted. GM knew it would sell. GM has some of the greatest platform and suspension engineers on the planet. GM could have beaten the bronco has to the market, and it likely would have been an easy hit.
But GM is GM. They make more money on a Colorado, and somewhere someone in a boardroom said a new off road blazer would cost money to money to develop and steal sales from the AT4/ZR2 twins, and anyone that actually would buy a new K5 blazer would just as readily buy a ZR2 Colorado.
So instead, GM gave us an American flavored Nissan Murano and called it a blazer.
That’s what I’m bitching about, friend.
If you’re going to go back to V8 & a stick, you may as well go all the way to a GEAR driven transfer case.