Will the Challenger increase the sales of other Dodge vehicles?

[XDCX]

Challenger's Impact on Dodge

http://i8.tinypic.com/4ibp46h.jpg

There's no question that the Dodge Challenger is hot and that it's going to be in high demand. But given the limited production, the bigger question is what impact will it have on the sales of other Dodge vehicles?

Will customers visit a Dodge showroom hoping to buy a Challenger and end up driving home in a Charger or Caliber? Or will the Challenger draw showroom traffic that doesn't convert to sales?

Take the poll and share your thoughts. :)

[XDCX]

I knew that production was limited limited for the first year, but I was somewhat surprised to read that Dodge is only forecasting sales of 20,000 - 30,000 units per year once the Challenger reaches full production.

By way of contrast, Chrysler has manufactured over 20,000 Dodge Chargers in just the first six weeks of 2008.

Is Dodge "low-balling" the Challenger's sales forecast or is the market limited for two-door sports cars? :confused:

Here's a link to the news report: http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS03/802110302/1004/news03

[bruce350]

Let's be real clear on the Challenger.

Great car. Lots of hoopla. We get one (1). They will bring over sticker. Ours is currently bid, informally through the store, at $7250.00 over MSRP. When we sell it, we will pat ourselves on the back and use the $7250.00 to pay for some floorplan charges to Chrysler Financial.

Next, they will either separately or at the same time introduce a regular R/T version and a bastardized V-6 version and sell truckload after truckload of the V-6 model to Hertz, Avis, Alamo, and anyone else who will pony up the bucks. The hoopla will be over.

That is the way it will work. Trust me. This ain't my first rodeo. Remember the PT Cruiser??????/

[XDCX]

Let's be real clear on the Challenger.

Great car. Lots of hoopla. We get one (1). They will bring over sticker. Ours is currently bid, informally through the store, at $7250.00 over MSRP. When we sell it, we will pat ourselves on the back and use the $7250.00 to pay for some floorplan charges to Chrysler Financial.

Next, they will either separately or at the same time introduce a regular R/T version and a bastardized V-6 version and sell truckload after truckload of the V-6 model to Hertz, Avis, Alamo, and anyone else who will pony up the bucks. The hoopla will be over.

That is the way it will work. Trust me. This ain't my first rodeo. Remember the PT Cruiser??????/

Bruce350:

You're refreshingly blunt and to the point - that's awesome. :D

History certainly supports your point - every great car only lasted so long before they started to stack-up like cord wood on the dealer's lot.

There's been some speculation that the Viper will be eliminated and the Challenger will become the "Halo" car for the Dodge division. It wouldn't seem right to see the "Halo" car running around town with an Avis sticker on the rear bumper. :confused:

[XDCX]

While there's been a great deal written about the 2008 Challenger SRT8 the number of units manufactured is going to be very small - about 9,000.

If you're a Dodge Dealer the Challenger that you care about is the 2009 model that has the potential to become a volume piece.

Allpar.com has a great write-up on the 2009 Challenger including information about the Powertrain Options, Color choices, etc. They also mention a rumor of a possible convertible version in 2010.

Here's a link to Allpar's 2009 Challenger write-up: http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/challenger.html

(The information about the 2009 Challenger is toward teh bottom of the page)

[XDCX]

Because of TIVO I rarely watch any commericals on television, so I don't know if Dodge has released this for broadcast yet.

It's a short 34 second clip that showcases the Challenger - I thought it was pretty good.

Here's a link to the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxta1hRyhP4

[XDCX]

While the poll results here at DealershipForum.com suggest that the Dodge Challenger will only have a modest impact on the sales of other Dodge vehicles, there's no question that the Challenger has caught the attention of the media.

To be on the cover of one magazine is great, but to be on the cover of FOUR magazines at the same time is phenomenal. :)

http://i25.tinypic.com/2lo0xkz.jpg

Chrysler and their dealers deserve some good news and it's nice to see that the Challenger is generating so much positive press coverage.

[XDCX]

If you haven't had a chance to review it, there's a cool seven part video interview with the designers of the Dodge Challenger.

The videos provide a unique insight into how the Challenger evolved after starting as a design concept in 2004.

Here's a link to the interviews: http://www.redletterdodge.com/tag/castiglione

I thought it was interesting that the designers produced three versions for Management's approval. Two were accepted and one was rejected.

Ironically, the rejected version stood the test of time and became the foundation for the production Dodge Challenger.

On a final note, it's somewhat sad to watch these videos and know that Chrysler is going to close the Pacifica Design Studio where the Challenger was developed. I wonder if all the employees will stay with the company now that they'll have to move to Detroit? :(

[XDCX]

For those that have been looking forward to having the Challenger arrive at your dealership you can take comfort in the fact that the first units are scheduled to begin production on April 14, 2008. :)

The 2008 model run is expected to be about 10,000 units with 10% of the Challengers going to Canada.

[XDCX]

Chrysler released more information about the production versions of the 2009 Dodge Challenger at the New York Auto Show.

Allpar.com has a great write-up on their site including some new pictures.

Here's a link to the Allpar page with the Challenger information: http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/challenger.html

They've got the latest information about the V-6 models and the addition of the six speed manual transmission to the line-up.

As an interesting piece of trivia, the automatic transmission version of the Challenger will get better fuel economy than the manual transmission version. The reason why? - the manual transmission cannot handle MDS cylinder deactivation. :)

[SHACOS]

Nice looking vehicle. Not a bad price either. Sort of in line with the Grand Cherokee SRT8. If you don't mind the paying $500 a month for gas, it's not a bad deal.

[XDCX]

Nice looking vehicle. Not a bad price either. Sort of in line with the Grand Cherokee SRT8. If you don't mind the paying $500 a month for gas, it's not a bad deal.

It will be interesting to see how the Challenger is selling a year from now.

It's possible that oil has peaked in price and is now headed lower based on declining demand. If the economy recovers and fuel prices decline I think the Challenger will have a great ride. :)

[XDCX]

It will be interesting to see how the Challenger is selling a year from now.

It's possible that oil has peaked in price and is now headed lower based on declining demand. If the economy recovers and fuel prices decline I think the Challenger will have a great ride. :)

Wow, that post is just over two months old and the price of oil has skyrocketed and the economy has worsened. So much for my ability to predict the future. :rolleyes:

I noticed in the May Sales Results that 71 Challengers were sold - it's nice to see that they are finally arriving at the dealerships.

It's really too bad that such an awesome car has to arrive in the middle of the worst fuel price spike since the early 80s. :(

[SHACOS]

Do you think Chrysler will have to add an incentive on these do get them out the door? Maybe not so much for the SRT, but maybe for the lower level models.

[goodone414]

If XDCX is correct and the expected sales are 20,000 - 30,000 a year it really doesn't matter if it has cash on the hood or not. Neither Chrysler nor the dealer can make any money selling 2,000 - 2,500 a month. I don't expect to see any incentives if production is in fact that low. Chrysler continues to cut fleet sales to rental companies (Thank God) so lets hope that those 20,000 - 30,000 units will all be at retail.

[XDCX]

If XDCX is correct and the expected sales are 20,000 - 30,000 a year it really doesn't matter if it has cash on the hood or not. Neither Chrysler nor the dealer can make any money selling 2,000 - 2,500 a month. I don't expect to see any incentives if production is in fact that low. Chrysler continues to cut fleet sales to rental companies (Thank God) so lets hope that those 20,000 - 30,000 units will all be at retail.

I noticed that the link to the story that reported the 2009 volume is dead.

I hope that the number is wrong. I'll do some searching and see if I can find another source for the 2009 Challenger volume.

[XDCX]

It took some digging, but I finally found a page on Allpar's website that indicated that the production of 2009 Challengers was going to increase from 35,000 units to 50,000. The source of this information was from a member of Allpar that has been very accurate in the past.

While 50,000 units is an increase, it's still not a huge number.

By way of comparison it would still be a low volume vehicle for Dodge Dealers - with the Avenger outselling it almost two to one. :(