Chrysler announced today that it’s recruiting members of the public for its new 'Customer Advisory Board', an online forum where individuals can voice their ideas about what they want to see in a new car. Anyone can join the forum, including consumers who have never previously owned a Chrysler product. The idea of a forum, rather than using expensive and time-consuming focus groups, has been a long time coming considering the amount of free ideas and feedback Chrysler could gain with relatively little effort.

Up to 5,000 individuals will be selected for membership, with a focus not just on ordinary complaints but ideas and features that consumers would like to see in future Chrysler products. The members of the advisory board will also get to view online videos and presentations from Chrysler, and consumer ideas gleaned from the online forum could be hitting drawing boards within two weeks of their suggestion.

Similar attempts to include customers in product design and promotion directly have been pioneered by world brands such as Apple and Nike, but an undertaking of this sort is supposedly a first for the auto industry. Typically focus groups have served the purpose of the new Advisory Board, but Chrysler expects that such a large cross-section of the community will be able to give a more cohesive image as to what consumers want.

To be eligible for the Customer Advisory Board, applicants need to be 18 years or older and must have a valid U.S. driver’s license. If you fit this description and are interested you can head over to ChryslerListens and submit an application today.