I love you guys. General Motors built me an amazing vehicle, and it's not for the first time. I once owned a Cobalt, and before that I owned a Saturn SL1. When I was having a rough time, I ended up driving a family member's Grand Am GT. All of these were built with the best GM could offer at the time, and I believe that GM is on a great trend of producing the world's best, affordable vehicles. I'm proud to drive one of these vehicles.
Now, let me give you some constructive criticism, not because the car needs it, but because
you need it. I still drive a 2011 Camaro SS. It is not nearly as capable as the brand new models that are making headlines and breaking records, but it is still a car that you support with parts and accessories. I know this because I pulled up your website to look for something. Do you know what I found?
- Go to chevrolet.com.
- Find the accessories link.
- Select a 2011 Camaro Coupe.
- Find performance accessories. I'll give you a hint; you'll need to see more categories.
- FInd a real performance part.
Here's your problem. You're marketing engine covers and gauge packs over real parts. Put the money components first. I know you sell 1LE suspensions because I have been following you for
years, but there are guys that love their cars and don't have the investment in the car enthusiast community that I do, and they want those kinds of parts. If you want to be a serious contender in the giant market of aftermarket customization, then you need to
sort by awesomeness.
Here's how you fix this. In the same way you put a halo on the highest trim and best product in the lineup, put a halo on accessories. Show me the LSA supercharger as an upgrade first. Then show me the ZL1 differential. Then show me the 1LE suspension kit. Then show me brake kits and bolt-on parts, like exhausts, headers, and intakes. If you can design the page to put 6-8 items in my view, I'm going to see great options.
It's also going to show me that I can still buy from my most trusted vendor, the Chevy dealer who sold me the car.
This is how you build loyalty and retain customers! Make me
want to come back for more. If you go to the track and look at all the awesome cars there, the drivers are talking about who sold them what. Ford guys talk about Ford Racing. Dodge guys talk about Mopar. I have yet to meet a Chevy guy talk about Chevrolet Performance with the same enthusiasm, and I want you to win.
General Motors produces the best performance vehicles for the price, and those vehicles are engineered with incredible care to ensure that they perform reliably well past the competition. The same is absolutely true for the performance parts that are taken from higher trim Camaros. We, as customers, know this. That's why a lot of us don't like breaking warranties, or we prefer buying from well-known vendors for our incredibly engineered GM products. You should be our first stop, and if your parts don't meet our goals, at least we stopped by and considered our options.
I am specifically in the market for parts that I know fit my Camaro SS and I don't see listed. Where is the LSA supercharger kit? Where is the 3.91 gear kit? There are people right now looking to buy highly profitable parts from one of your warehouses, and those customers are going to end up buying the same thing from a non-GM source. Do you know what happens next? When those parts fail prematurely, they'll have an opinion. They will believe that GM did not manufacture the garage toy that they wanted, and they will begin considering alternatives for their next car. One of their chief considerations will be the kind of support offered by the competition.
Let's talk about your competitors. TRD supports Toyota. Mopar supports Chrysler (300, Charger, Challenger). NISMO supports Nissan (370Z, GTR). Ford Racing supports Ford (Mustang, GT).
We understand that the average car buyer is not us. They want an approachable car that they drive to work. We want a toy. Some of us play with our toys only at the track. Others cruise together or go to meets. All of us have choices as to where we buy parts to make our toys
ours. If you want us to buy from you, make it easier to buy from you. Show me the parts I want to see. If I can convert my engine to make that part work, show me a kit. Organize the parts in an order that makes sense.
And no, engine covers are not performance parts.