Yogi Berra might have been the one to say this: I would never want to belong to a club that would have someone like me as a member. This is a bit of a stretch, but:

If the car companies get completely onboard with the underground modding/tuner subculture, is it still an underground subculture, or would that make it mainstream? Do the modders/tuners really want mainstream? If the car companies join the club, do the tuners go elsewhere to apply their imaginations and creativity to something else?

 

Good point. However, I don't think there is a problem with a car company (such as Scion) offering quality aftermarket parts that are specifically designed to work with a particular model. Items like wheels / suspension (coil-overs /springs / strut bars) / spoilers / exhaust / and maybe even racing seats are all pretty much standard upgrades these days. If a car company will provide these parts without them voiding warranty, etc... all the better.

For the hard-core tuning community, I don't see any car company out there offering (anytime soon) the likes of: air suspensions / wide body kits / fiberglass dash & doors / vertical doors / massive multi amp stereo systems / complex intakes / etc...

The way I see it, there are 3 types of car owners.
1) Those that drive the car as is right out of the showroom
2) Those that will do gradual upgrades to the basics (wheels, exhaust, etc.)
3) Those that will full out pimp their ride to the max - AKA the underground tuners.