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
“…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.
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.
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.
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’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)
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.