In an effort to court the tuner crowd, AutoNation has started to provide customers with performance upgrades at its 27 Chevrolet dealerships earlier this month through a new partnership with tuning house Hennessey Performance. According to an Autonation official, the company intends to expand this partnership to its 37 Ford stores in the upcoming year. Through the deal, AutoNation will arrange the shipment of vehicles to Hennessey’s California or Texas factories. The customer will then discuss packages with Hennessey Performance before the company works on the vehicle and sends the upgraded car back to the customer.
The people at AutoNation claim to be excited about the two companies joining together, since this move will offer their customers to choose from diverse performance upgrades from just one provider. In response to the move, Hennessey plans on opening another operation near AutoNation’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters within the next year. The connection between Hennessey and AutoNation started back in 2012, when the CEOs of the two companies met at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. They stayed in touch, and while Hennessey’s CEO attended an AutoNation leadership conference earlier in the year, he made the choice to work closer with the company. This partnership will give both easy and convenient access to car enthusiasts looking for upgrades to their cars, and AutoNation’s ability to provide that access across brands will be a huge benefit.
Hennessey upgrades are currently available for the Corvette, Camaro, SS, Tahoe, Suburban and Silverado, but AutoNation will also offer a program for 2015 Ford vehicles, such as the new Mustang and aluminum-bodied F-150 pickups. Earlier this month, the two companies began a horsepower show at AutoNation Chevrolet in Fort Lauderdale, and they plan on visiting 27 Chevrolet stores and 37 Ford stores across the country over the course of the next 12 months. Such a show will give customers a close look at the Hennessey HPE550 Supercharged Chevrolet Silverado truck, as well as a Hennessey HPE650 Supercharged Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, and provide customers a chance to see and touch the cars, and maybe even go on a test drive. So far, customers seem excited about the deal.