View Single Post
Old 01-28-2013, 04:08 PM   #1
The_Blur
Moderator
 
The_Blur's Avatar
 
Drives: 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Bob
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: San Diego
Posts: 14,769
Send a message via AIM to The_Blur
Lightbulb 6thgen an Opportunity for GMPP: A Vision for GM Performance Parts

Consider this an open letter to our friends at GM.

I've been discussing with some fellow enthusiasts a vision of GM Performance Parts that I think has been lost in the shuffle. General Motors is a large conglomerate containing so many brands and labels that it seems near unmanageable. It is truly remarkable that we have such quality and diverse choices coming from such a large manufacturer. Some would say we are blessed.

With the 5thgen winding down and a secret 6thgen coming to the market in the not-too-distant future, GM needs to think about branding itself as fun, exciting, and performance-oriented. These are all crucial to advertising vehicles that take Average Joe from point A to point B, and it makes sense that GMPP should roll out products that reflect these qualities in GM vehicles.

Before I state what I want from GMPP, let's talk about GM's marketing and what GM is manufacturing right now. GM is at war for the hearts, minds, and wallets of unaffiliated drivers. Some people will pretty much always drive a Chevy. Others will pretty much always drive a Dodge. It's good to get those guys, but let's look at where we've lost a lot of market share over the years, and our products belong in their garages. I say "we" and "our" because I feel a connection to GM's brands based on the quality of engineering behind them. I could write an unbiased, journalistic review of a Camaro versus a Challenger or Mustang any day, and my moderator status here reflects my opinion of the Camaro's superiority. That opinion wasn't a product of my dad driving a Silverado or my mom driving a Malibu. My dad's driving a Forester, and my mom drives a Caliber, and neither of them is a symbol of automotive brand loyalty. They both are typical car buyers, but they haven't been sold on GM yet. They don't understand the engineering, and it's going to take a lot of work to explain how GM products are fundamentally better built than everything else out there. How can we prove it?

Let's start with the soul of GM. When I talk about soul, I mean the spirited personality of what makes GM. Toyota has no soul. There is nothing special about Toyota, and yet we fight them viciously for sales. We do this because they have streamlined their manufacturing to only attack markets with massive sales. They backed out of sport markets because they have lost their soul—their desire to compete. Even with their addition to NASCAR, they produced a vehicle for the purpose of racing that isn't fair to what they actually produce as a brand. GM has a soul, and that soul is in its performance vehicles. I'm talking about Z71 trucks, Corvettes, V-badged Cadillacs, turbo EcoTecs, and of course the Camaro. That's why you're reading this thread.

The 6th generation Camaro is a continuation of the greatest American pony car. It is a GT car that smokes competition in and out of its price range. The Camaro is a terrifying threat to high-end niche manufacturers due to its incredible design and quality of manufacture, and let's not forget the power. It is fast. There is so much to love about the soul of GM, but the marketing isn't marketing the soul the right way. Perhaps the answer is a grassroots campaign guided not by marketing professionals but parts counter guys.

The GM parts guy at our local Chevrolet dealer is a good friend to car enthusiasts. This is the guy with a '69 Chevelle in his garage, restored to perfect working order after countless hours of labor and too many paychecks spent at work doing fun, not work. I know this guy. The specific guy I described works where I got my first Camaro, and he's an impressively knowledgeable guy. I respect his experience, and I definitely respect his car. Unfortunately for the both of us, using GM parts for his '69 Chevelle is not an option due to significantly better aftermarket options.

There's a reason for that. GMPP offers crappy accessories. There—I said it. Don't tell me I'm wrong. You've got studies and market research proving that most customers want to accessorize their car, but you're offering them floor mats. That's thinking like you're in the '70s, and we're way past that. We need to be competitive with serious brands, and more importantly our competition. There are two mainstream car companies that are definitely doing it the right way, and GM needs to get on this bandwagon to keep up.

First, I'd like to talk about Scion. I've already said Toyota had no soul, but their weird tuner brand has a uniqueness that is unprecedented. They offer no trim levels, and a significant number of options are in the form of accessories. It's a weird approach to selling cars, but it requires them to offer innovative solutions and extremely custom vehicles that their clients love. It is very important to build the emotional bond between the buyer and the product. That's the key to Apple's success as a company, and you even teach your salespeople to include this in the sales process. Emotion is irrational, and yet it drives us to make live-changing decisions. Make it so that your prospective buyers become customers based on the same variety of options.

Second, let's talk about Ford Racing. This is the real target. The Mustang is directly competing with the Camaro, as you know. Mustang buyers have options at the dealership that Chevy buyers do not have. Don't get me wrong. You're on the right track by offering the 1LE track pack. Keep up that trend. Currently, we've got some work to do to get competitive, and that track pack is a good start. I want you to look at all the options GMPP offers and honestly tell me that they're the same as Ford Racing. Salespeople should be able to sell at every dealer, not just SLP dealers, quality, GM-approved parts that improve the performance of the vehicle and allow customers, and Camaro5 forum members, to stop asking if the headers, exhaust, intake, and other simple modifications will void their powertrain warranty.

There's that emotion thing again. By selling a car with soul, you create joy and excitement. Unfortunately, you're also creating fear. Fear is a bad thing. Don't sell fear. Do everything you can to stop GM from selling fear. How does this happen? You sell a muscle car—a car with a reputation for demolishing opponents at the track—but you make buyers worry about whether they'll get in trouble for modifying it to do what you made it to do, race. Give us the parts we need to race safely, and charge us for them! It's a brilliant proposition: make money off of customers by selling them parts that give them unique identity and a sense of safety when doing what you told them to do. You didn't really expect SS, 1LE, and ZL1 owners to buff and polish their cars every weekend, did you? Don't be naive. Give them some track toys. Give us stage kits. Do you remember the Cobalt SS Supercharged? That car was done right. You offered sanctioned upgrade kits labeled by stage, and then you said the supercharged model wasn't good enough, so you gave them a track-dominating, LNF-powered SS Turbocharged. That thing is a monster for a compact, and no one could compete in that price range. That was a great product, too, but focus on the aftermarket goodies. The Supercharged model had all the upgrades.

Now that I've told you how great GM has been in recent years, I hope you feel a little better about the criticism. I'm going to give you some serious suggestions, and I hope GM finds some way to incorporate these into the future of GM Performance Parts. This is important. This is a lot of money waiting to go into GM after the sale. As I've already said, you have the market research to prove that this will work. People want to accessorize their cars, but you're not giving them what they want. Stop offering chrome exhaust tips on Malibus. Offer these options instead:
  • Tuning—this is perhaps more important than anything else. Let people get a GM-sanctioned tune for headers and other parts. Give them a warranty-approved tune so they stop trying to hack your computers or hide their tune from you.
  • Graphics—think Ford Racing. There are a lot of Mustang options. Keep offering Camaro enthusiasts options. We love making our cars look different. Do not allow dealers to order some of these graphics. Custom cars take too long to sell, and it's bad for GM's image. Offer these at the parts counter. Keep offering the stripe packages we already have.
  • Wheel and tire packages—not all aftermarket wheels are the same in quality. Start sanctioning aftermarket brands and making relationships with quality manufacturers. You did something similar with Pedders suspension components, if I remember correctly.
  • Forced induction—where is my supercharger? Market a GM-sanctioned TVS 2300 kit. Make it the headliner of a pamphlet at every dealer. Make every dealer order 1 supercharger and put it in a glass case so people can stare at it while they get maintenance done. Do something. This will sell. I promise you.
  • Mag ride kit—find some way to get this installed in cars that don't have it. It can be expensive. We know that the technology is good, and we know that it costs money.
  • Suspension options for almost every car—give us sway bars, coilovers, lowering springs, and strut tower braces for everything from Sparks to Corvettes. Young buyers need to feel that emotional bond with their car, and the Camaro isn't the first car for most people. Give young buyers in Sonics some cool options. Working on their cars makes them feel attached to their cars. This is how you create lifelong GM enthusiasts.
  • Ridiculous off-road options—while this doesn't apply to the Camaro, make aftermarket options that are easy to attain through licensing at every dealership and allow people to keep their warranty coverage.

GM spends a lot of time and money making the world's best cars. Now, you need to sell them, and you can do it with the help of enthusiasts. Create enthusiasts by giving regular car buyers options that bring them into car culture so that they, too, can understand the passionate bond between man and machine.
__________________
RDP Motorsport//GEN5DIY//Cultrag Performance//JPSS//Rodgets Chevrolet//
Operation Demon//Buy at Invoice//RACECARWEAR
RESPECT ALL CARS. LOVE YOUR OWN.
warn 145:159 ban
The_Blur is offline   Reply With Quote