Interesting statistic from GM:

[Kor]

"According to a buyer study commissioned by Chevrolet, nearly 30 percent of buyers intend to modify their Cobalt SS"

That is huuuge! I am not even sure 30% of civic buyers modify their cars.

With that kind of publicity, I hope we see some changes in marketing and products, especially from VW who seems to be slow in recognizing the tuner crowd.

Basically, nearly every company except VW has an OEM tuning/modding division now?

[Kor]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

PS: Next year I am going to SEMA no matter what!

[James]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

Ya, all good in theory but the fact is that if VW got into the tuner market (aka - factory S/C kits for the new 2.5's or whatever, you know, a-la SRT-line) it would cost 17 times as much as the MOPAR parts or Scion parts or whatever your comparing it to. 30% of car owners can afford $500 to make their car look a bit different, but nothing comes cheap for euro cars

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

Well I saw a yellow one taking up two parking spots in a busy lot last night, but it seemed stock

However yes it is becoming a large market and auto companies need to accept it as they can be missing out on buyers and large amounts of cash. Just think most of us will probably modify every car we own for the rest of our lives and most likely our children will follow along.

[Mr. Burns]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

On all future vehicles I am done with body kits, etc. But it is safe to assume that I will do wheels/supension/chip on every car I purchase from here on out.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

i'd love to go to sema.. i have a ton o vacation maybe i'll hit that up with people if enough are down? but don't you need a special pass to get in??

[NeonGTI]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

I have a feeling that by 'modify' they mean change the stereo, add tints, or something lame like that.

[Tuna]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

Yup, VW needs to figure it out and listen to the market, even Forbes knows that. (xposted from cvd)

The funny thing is that Volkswagen could find great success again in this country if the company actually knew the value of its own brand with young buyers. Volkswagens have great life in the aftermarket, and if VW was willing to chase Toyota Motor's (nyse: TM - news - people ) new Scion label, the company could easily bring some of its lower-priced, lightly massaged Skoda models here where they would sell well to twentysomethings. Americans don't know that Skoda is the Daewoo of Europe—and anyway, these cars are far more refined than that.

Taken from here (The full article is about the new 2005 Jetta, but they don't give it the greatest review)
http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/25/vol...25test_ls.html

Could not have said it better myself (except for maybe the harsh comment about Skoda)

[Kor]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

i'd love to go to sema.. i have a ton o vacation maybe i'll hit that up with people if enough are down? but don't you need a special pass to get in??

Don't worry, we have enough contacts to get passes, all you need is to prove that you work for a tuning/auto-related company.

Yeah, I would be willing to plan it with some others from NVD. In retrospect I wish I had gone to SEMA this year.

[Kor]

Re: Interesting statistic from GM:

Taken from here (The full article is about the new 2005 Jetta, but they don't give it the greatest review)
http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/25/vol...25test_ls.html

They refer to the new Sonata in that article... man that thing is going to sell a lot of cars... I am not saying its a great car, however Hyundai has basically hit a mass-market sweet spot.