Viper Production Sidelined For Two Months Due To Slow Sales
Due to slow sales, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will halt production of the SRT Viper for the next two months, with 91 hourly workers temporarily booted to the unemployment line.
Automotive News reports the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit will go into hibernation beginning April 14, with production to resume June 23.
Speaking of 91, that was the number of Vipers sold in the United States between January and February of this year, with a 412-day supply of 756 unsold vehicles as of March 1.
Factors leading to the temporary shutdown include unseasonably cold weather, and the habit of dealers keeping the doors locked on the exotic car, hindering sales. SRT brand head Ralph Giles aims to change the latter through a factory team tour of the U.S. already underway in the South, allowing customers to take the Viper for a test-drive. The tour will expand north once warmer weather arrives.
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No sales and Dodge dealers have the nerve to rope the thing off and demand $150K? And these are the people who won't let Tesla sell direct? The dealer model is rotten.
The blacked out grille and disassociation of the name "Dodge" probably aren't helping sales. Those aside the Vipers one of the few newer supercars I probably wouldn't mind owning, or at least renting for a period of time.
Two comments: 1. I suspect the dotted-line production of this car, with gaps between 2006-8, and 2010-12, have served to push it out of buyers' minds. It's like that movie star you're not sure is still alive. 2. This car returned because of an enthusiast outcry. Enthusiasts' talk is cheap - they can't be trusted to actually buy anything. Remember the Plymouth Prowler and Chevy SSR truck?
Well the only thing I can Assume from all these ridiculous statements is that none of you have ever owned or driven a Viper. I have had 4 vipers and even wrecked one... I still love the sensation of driving a car that is not one I will see again on the road in the next two minutes..also known a s a "Me too car" being that when someone asks you.... what kinda car do you have and they say "me too" like so many mustangs you can count 1,2,3,4 etc as you drive down the road until you get bored. Even a Vette can be seen with a frequency that makes you not even notice when you see one on the road much like a prius or honda civic....because you know that there is nothing special to see and that person has no original thoughts...When you see a viper you take notice and say look that is a nice car...the fact that it has remained the same body style that can be recognized year after year made me want one...I have never conformed to the mass acceptance of the Mustangs and Camaro's of the world and I never will....I am glad that there will never be a flood of Vipers out there.. if that happens... the truly unique will never be recognized...viper forever!!! LS Viperman