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
Bring back fake burled walnut dash trim and velour interiors.
I WANT UTES!!!
Isn’t that what got Jeffrey Epstein in trouble?
Yes, and make them proper post-1950 height with a bench, like a 21st century El Camino, not a Tahoe with a short bed a la the Avalanche (though admittedly I did like those at the time since they were fairly unique). Give us the Pontiac G8 ST we were denied (with a bench seat).
Listen to your customers, the pundits, and prospective buyers – put a NA V8 in the CT4-BW (or the CT5).
#3 is proof of OEMs listening to dealers and not customers. We loved the horn at the dealership becasue we can easily find the car but customers definitely prefer the chirp.
I like a good chirp, but the honk on my equinox is at least not annoying loud.
Toyota/Scion had a great chirp, but I quickly realized that my FRS had a Subaru chirper. It was uselessly quiet. Like, you couldn’t hear it from 10 feet away if there’s any other noise.
Wait you can’t disable the horn on locking on a GM? That would be annoying. I love having no sound on lock.
Here is my list:
Good List. And if they just let us record all the cameras on the vehicle, we wouldn’t need the dashcam. They did this on the CT6 (it had a microSD card in the trunk to record the cameras, at least on the PHEV one).
Offer non-black and light interior colors for the next Bolt production run, whenever. Also for any other vehicle sold where the sun shines in the summer.
Ooo I have several, in no particular order.
The Colorado ZR2 should get a trim with the supercharged v8
There should be a street truck Silverado/Sierra, lowered, 6.6 v8, reg cab or extended cab.
The next CT5 Blackwing to feature manual and awd.
Return of a Buick station wagon.
Bring back Carplay and Android Auto
A Rally version of the Trax or Trailblazer, more power, slick awd system, wider track.
Chevy doesn’t seem to want to compete with the Raptor and TRX. But since Ford keeps offering half-assed Lobo variations, maybe your street truck suggestion isn’t very crazy at all.
Ford does still offer the best street truck currently, it just isn’t marketed that way. You can option the regular cab short box F150 with the 5.0 v8 in your choice of rwd or 4wd. It’s the lightest config with their largest engine. Of course it is the work truck trim so hope you like it white, with steelies, and a ride height totally unbefitting of a street truck, but hey, lower it and add the FP700 package and you’ve really got something!
That F-150 is the right size truck and definately the right place to start. As soon as you add 4wd they make the thing taller, which is a mark against. But in any case all of the stuff they need is there. It’s not gonna be a big seller, but the current Lobo certainly isn’t either.
I think I could get behind your “Hot Trax” idea
Yes. Bring back Carplay and Android Auto. Stop trying to develop software when you are not a software company.
…and advertise the damn thing this time. I’m so tired of automakers discontinuing wagons after a couple of years with the same old tired “wagons don’t sell” line after they made absolutely zero effort to sell them. Nothing’s going to sell if people don’t know it exists.
Put a cross-plane ZR1 engine in the CT5 Blackwing so that we can finally get an LS in the CT4. It’s all it needs, if they do that, they’ll have the best performance sedan in the world.
Amber rear turn signals.
This should be a thing. Why is it not a thing?
This may be exactly the time for the cockroach-esq Chevy Cavalier to return. With exactly the same ethos that got it through two decades – uninspiring but durable engines, low running costs, multiple body styles, and a dash of style here and there, all at a bargain basement price.
It seemed like they nailed it with the cobalt and then the cruz. Kept the reliability, made it less crappy on the inside. Overall a segment that they continuously improved and then shut the door on.
As GM does.
I’m actually going to disagree. The Cavalier’s reputation is arguably why we don’t get these sorts of cars anymore. Everyone I had ever known to own one haaaaaated it. The whole “runs like shit but forever” sounds great to some of us, but isn’t exactly a compelling sell to someone who wants a new car.
Name it something else, make it both cheap AND cheerful (versus hateful) and maybe we have something. Honestly, they should probably just make a small sedan based on the Trax for a few grand less and call it good.
My parents waited for theirs to die for so long. They had a gold coupe. Dad replaced 4 or 5 window regulators before giving up on them. The sun visors were broken, seat cushions collapsed, gear shift handle broken. Kept going and going. Finally sold it with 170k miles to some kid down the street that needed a car to drive to college for, like, $500 and it ran for at least another 3 years (then they moved from the neighborhood so who knows).
What I submitted:
‘GM should get bed caps made for the non WT trims of the Silverado EV, the lack of an available bed cap kept me from buying a Trailboss Max Range Silverado EV’
How about a regular cab long bed Chevy Colorado for people who actually use their truck to haul stuff.
We have a long bed four door Colorado and it is a long truck in a parking lot.
Things I want –
1) Heated/Ventilated seats and Heated steering wheel in all EVs by default.
2) Offer a physical switch pack that can connect to the CANBUS and be mounted to the dash for common functions
3) Android Auto/Carplay needs to come back, even if it theoretically cannibalizes subscription revenue
4) Make the camera-based rearview mirror optional
4a) Make rear and side visibility a design priority
5) Washer nozzles for the backup camera
6) Allow all EV trim levels to select the most efficient wheel size
7) Less trim.
Nogizmoto
Keep making the Bolt, that’s my #1 suggestion.
I want a Buick car again
Apparently, GM may have already gotten your message. Buick is considering a new sedan, based on younger drivers who’ll have money in a few years not wanting anything to do with their parents crossovers/SUVs!
and that sedan might just be a cut price ct4
That would be delightful. Many years ago the dealer I worked at had a 4-cylinder ATS in on trade. Even though it wasn’t a V, it was excellent to drive. What reviews say about the alfa platform GM cars is absolutely true. I would be all over a Buick CT4, especially if it had an engine that was known for cheap running costs.
The ATS/CT4 should have always been a Buick (or Pontiac RIP) and I argue the CTS/CT5 as well. Give it a stick across the engine options and give me the NA V8
Why?
By the time Buick even began selling modern cars that were remotely performance oriented and had any sport pedigree (versions of the Regal and Verano, and sort of the Cascada..I guess?), Cadillac had already made a solid and marketable performance brand with the V cars.
What’s more, the sporty Buicks were lightly altered Opel/Vauxhall models. And they went unappreciated, too. They really didn’t sell well.
And then, of course, there’s the problem that Buick has had, really, forever (but certainly more since the 1980s)…there’s only so much people are willing to pay for a Buick. And it’s less than they’d pay for a Cadillac. So why in any sane world would GM ever kneecap how much profit it could make by taking top-tier performance cars and putting them under its mid-tier brand?
The Buick faithful would probably jump all over themselves to buy a Grand National successor in terms of performance, but that’s a small number of people. Everyone else would wonder why it was so expensive and why it wasn’t a Cadillac. And I say that as someone who was brought home from the hospital in a 1985 Buick Riviera, who received a Buick scholarship in university, and who has a lot of fondness for the brand and its history.
That just doesn’t make good business sense.
Why? Because the ATS started at $35k when it came out. Because you can’t have 3 stages of brands when the top brand barely hits $100k.
I know they wanted to revitalize Cadillac but if Cadillac makes BMW priced cars, there’s no way to offer two different brands underneath that.
They way to save Cadillac is and always has been to move it as far upmarket as possible to make room for the brands underneath. Buick was always supposed to be the “European fighter” in the GM brands so making it get the 3 and 5 series competitors is on brand.
Giving them the Grand National sub-brand would have also helped.
Now they’re finally going to move forward with that thinking when that’s what should have been done in the 90’s and 00’s from the beginning. If they had done then what they’re doing now, we might even still have Pontiac and Oldsmobile because they would have market demographics and price points that make sense
I would like a new TourX specifically.
In all the modern GM cars, you can turn off the approach lighting. It’s in the Vehicle Lighting settings on the infotainment.
It’s just not disabled by default.
Until it’s the default, every Tahoe at the Y is going to make me think they’re leaving their very very precious parking space.
A list of suggestions that will be automatically deleted:
#1. Improve quality
#2. Bring back CarPlay
#3. Bring back Saturn
#4. Make truck grilles smaller
#5. Make cars again
#6. Get rid of subscriptions
#7. Bring back Pontiac
#8. Reduce CEO compensation
#9. Offer LS swapping services
#10. Make dealers not awful
I wonder how many of #7 they’re getting
Requests peak on Pthursdays for some reason
I’m immediately attracted to the hot dog on demand idea, but worry that part of the appeal of a Costco dog (the low cost) would no longer exist, once delivery fees, tip, etc… are figured in. Their dogs are decent for $1.50 with a drink. If they cost $8-9 though? Not so much.
$8-9 is 50% less than the TeslaDog, surely a deal at half the price. Plus the Elon wiener pictures gave me the ick.
“Their dogs are decent for $1.50 with a drink.”
And even better completo’d with mayo, avocado, sauerkraut and chopped tomatoes.
As far as reasonable requests, the reverse light thing has to be #1 by like, an insane margin. Literally everyone hates this, and I know people who don’t give any shits about cars that have noticed GM is the only one who does this.
A few years ago I probably would’ve asked GM to make the Equinox not the worst looking car on the road. They… sort of fixed that. And they’ve brought the Bolt back, so that’s nice. And the Trax is pretty good for what it is? Honestly, GM isn’t at the top of my shit list right now probably for the first time ever.
Alright, I’ll request they do something that’s good for them and not for me instead. Hey GM? How the fuck have you not developed a Colorado based SUV to fight the 4Runner/Wrangler/Bronco segments? Do you hate money? I know you like money.
they have such a car already, its the trailblazer, based on the previous gen Colorado made in Brazil
*pulls up google image search*
Ehhhhhhh. Never mind.
The previous Equinox looked quite like a 2003 Lexus RX that had been left to melt in the sun for fifteen years, and I was pretty appalled that GM landed on such a milquetoast, dated design language after all that time.
But it was hardly the worst-looking thing on the road. Arguably its Terrain cousin–both first- and second-generation versions of it, looked worse.
The Terrain was pretty hideous, but at least GM seemed to have some sort of strategy there. Was that strategy for the first gen “Oops All Rectangles”? Yeah. The second gen was pretty darn ugly (that front end, yikes) but at least it didn’t look like it had been in multiple accidents like the Equinox.
I’m splitting hairs here though, they both sucked.
So I can tell them directly that their trucks are too damn big? O:
I sincerely hope that every few months, they publish the truly unhinged requests they are sure to get.
Costco hot dog dispenser? Small potatoes. I wanna see the one where someone demands a special wifi/Bluetooth/ EMF/EMP/radiation shield that somehow still lets an AM radio signal through. Gotta get their Coast-To-Coast broadcast somehow!
Easy, surround your car with multiple Faraday cages. Outside of the cage have an antenna hooked up to a crystal radio. The crystal radio will pick up the signal we will use a computer and microlaser to transform the signal into light. This will be sent through a fiber optic cable to inside the truck where a receiver will pick up the light and a computer will encode it on cassette tapes (or CD’s if your fancy).
Pop that tape in your player and you can listen to Coast to Coast AM or even reruns of Cartalk EM free!
Is it still really AM if it’s riding on a carrier beam of THz EM instead of kHz EM?
I was gonna suggest bringing back the Camaro but the form asked for way too much personal info.
My new device recommendation:
A midsize EV sedan, hardtop coupe and wagon – which comes in standard colors like blue, green, brown, red – and with standard non-black interiors.
Can we just put in a suggestion to make their cars good? zing
You’ll find that suggestion auto-forwarded to Stellantis.