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sort of rambling on...
I see a definate need...
You'd have to turn that need into some bottom-line profit where people part with their hard earned cash.
In order to make a good business case for parts, it seems to me you'd have to sell your product(s) a scale in which you amortize your engineering efforts throughout the sales of thousands of parts.
The other tough part if you choose to market parts... getting the capital investment to produce lots and lots of parts, market and distribute them. If you start small, your engineering costs are a huge percentage of the end product cost.
Do a real good job of moving lots of units and your reward might be and you get the attention of some larger fish, who steals your idea, and manufactures a knock-off version of your products in China, undercuts you by 75% with inferior products while you close up shop. The attorneys fight it out, but a little fish doesn't stand a chance in the 'my lawyers can beat up your lawyers' game. I just re-read, mygwad does that sound negative! Sorry, it's just that I've been in and around manufacturing my entire life... LOL
IMO, you would need great fitting consumer grade products that will fit specific make, model, and year, are complete, and require minimal skill set to instal. One size fits all parts in the hands of the unskilled result in unhappy customers. That's a tough one to do well unless you already have a lot of experience in this type of R&D.
DIY'ers with the skills to make their own will just steal your idea and build their own in the their garages, so you'd need to go after a wide public market, IMO.
What about the former 'body kit' manufactures? I understand that market is oversaturated and largely going away, but what about a new twist on that? The processes and skill sets have been around for some time. You could engineer body kits that significantly lower a cars CD, instead of altering the look for astetics alone. I'd love to see a body kit offered where function drives form. Maybe this could be 'the next big thing' at next year's SEMA show in Vegas?
Or maybe you where thinking of some sort of engineering co-op? Perhaps offereing consulting services on an hourly basis? Make contacts within the aftermarket automotive industry, make a sales pitch to design some products for them on a partnership basis, let them do what they do best?
The solar companies in California are seeing some real growth near my home, they use a lot of outside consultants.
Engineering is expensive, and like a good security system, the average Joe rarely appreciates security doing a good job, or great engineering. He only notices a failure in either one.
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