Dodge Doubling Hellcat Production, Taking Orders in August
Dodge will roughly double the number of Charger and Challenger Hellcat models it makes next year and will significantly change the way dealers can order the 707-horsepower model in the future, the company announced Monday. Dodge also announced that it would be cancelling nearly 900 unfulfilled 2015 orders and honoring those prices for 2016.
Dealers will begin taking new orders for the super-performance cars sometime around Aug. 10 and will only be allowed to order their specific allocation. According to Automotive News, reports surfaced last year of Dodge dealers accepting deposits for many more Challenger and Charger Hellcat models than they were allotted.
Dealers will begin receiving Hellcats in September through February.
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis told Automotive News that customers learning Monday that their order has been cancelled “is probably not what they want to hear, but we’re going to do it so that we have a fresh, clean slate going forward with everything that we learned in 2015.” Dodge said they’ll begin today calling customers who won’t receive 2015 models.
Initially, Dodge anticipated building 1,200 Hellcat-powered models last year. Initial orders topped 4,000 and eventually reached 5,000.
Dealers who don’t sell their allotment of Challenger or Charger Hellcat models right away — if they’ve raised the price far beyond the MSRP, for example — may have future allotments of the model restricted, the automaker said.
Dodge has not yet announced pricing for the 2016 Charger and Challenger Hellcat models.
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FCA has huge problems with no money for R&D, no one interested in buying them, and now faced with a buy back of up to 1.5 million vehicles and record fines. The impacted Jeep and Ram products are going to get crushed in resale value. Never mind the reputation hit, which is already lackluster as this makes the news cycle.
Maybe they should allocate some of the production to Challenger SRT and Scat Pack models. I see the V6 and R/T 5.7 models languish on local lots for months at a time. Scat Packs are sold within a week, and I've yet to see any SRT392 models on dealer lots. I had hoped to buy a Scat Pack Challenger, but have pretty much given up because there's nothing in stock. Same goes for the '15 Charger. I've yet to see the Scat Pack or SRT in person, but have seen two Hellcats.
Fred: You're right about the pricing. I went on Autotrader and found new Hellcats advertised for actually less than MSRP. You'll just have to likely travel to get what you want. Only a fool would pay $20k over sticker.
"Nothing on the road gets attention like a Lamborghini. I could pick up young nuns in one if I could borrow it for a Sunday…" Ever drive a Rolls Royce Phantom? That sonofabitch still works its magic on the street gawkers. But that was a funny line, Bigtrucks, about the nuns. FCA should make as many Hellcats as they can. Its day won't last forever and we need as many on hand as possible. Still, if the price were $110,000 out the door, there is some German iron that deserves attention. The Charger/Challenger I'd like to see would have a gutsy diesel engine. The 392 Hemi Challenger that I drove for a week sucked down gas like it was going out of style. I'm used to cars that get bad mileage, but that car was in a special realm of thirsty. As long as this model is going to remain so heavy, a diesel should be offered. Otherwise, I absolutely had a blast driving the Challenger.