Re: Challenger WILL be built

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Wed May 31 2006 - 14:42:00 EDT


Terrible Tom <SilverEightynine@aol.com> wrote:
: According to several sources, Chrysler is trying to decide on which
: strategy to follow: a high-price, low-volume run, or a high-volume,
: lower-price run. Also in flux is the question of engines - restricting
: to just the Hemi, or allowing both the Hemi and at least one V6. Then
: there is the question of whether a manual transmission will be used and,
: if so, whether an automatic will also be available. "

   That's certainly not a promising sign. :-( All this time and
they *still* haven't figured this stuff out?

: -----

: Ohhh I SOOOO hope that they don't do a low volume high price car. Thats
: what they have the damned Viper for. If they are going to do this right
: they need to compete with Mustang, which is still affordable.

   Agreed. Daimler could learn a *lot* fron the Mustang, and if
they haven't by now, its a shame. The Mustang has a performance
image, however the vast majority of the cars are V6 grocery getters.
Heck, the Mustang basically started out as a seceratary's car with
no real thought given to performance until a bit later into
production. The formula is pretty simple, really. In the same
car line, you can have the muscle car, and even some completely
off the chart supercars, but the bread and butter is the lowly
V6. THAT steady stream of income resulting from ordinary people
buying ordinary cars is what allows you to build the more limited
appeal musclecars. However, its a symbiotic relationship... You
can't just stick with the plain jane cars alone, or I think it is
likely the ordinary models would lose a lot of their appeal; people
buy them partially to live vicariously through the more rowdy
siblings of the line - its kinda like accountants and MBAs dressing
up in leather and taking their Harleys out for the weekend. The high
end musclecars supply credibility to the entire model line while the
low end grocery getters supply capital. You need that high end
image to sell the model, but if you focus only on those models,
their relatively limited demand will quickly result in a loss and
the scrapping of that model. History is rife with examples of a
company building a high end vehicle at a loss in order to capitalize
on the image and sell lesser models. Ford seems to be one of the
only companies to figure out that this works even better when you
apply this technique within a single model line. The Mustang is
proof that you can have it both ways - exclusivity and high volume.
When most people think of Mustang, it conjures images of speed
and muscle, but the reality behind the scenes is one of literally
millions of plain, ordinary Mustangs with nothing special about them,
quietly providing the cash to allow the entire line to continue and
remain profitable.

  Basically, Dodge needs to offer the Challenger with the 3.7 V6,
in addition to possibly the 4.7; definitely the 5.7, and a honkin'
supercharged version of the 6.1 for the SRT version. If you lock
the high end version into a stick I guess that wouldn't be the
end of the world (although chances are they would instead lock it
into an automatic...), but in general, the cars all need to be
offered with a choice of manual or auto, and they should also be
available in really inexpensive, stripped down versions too. (And
don't try pulling any crap like "you can't get the good engine
unless you load the vehicle up with all these other options". I
don't actually anticipate that this will happen and usher back in the
good old days, but its fun to think about. :-) Its sort've funny
in a way... Back in the 60s and 70s, almost anything went as
far as ordering a car goes. You could get any strange option mix
you wanted. Heck, Chrysler would even paint your car with a
competitor's color! That was back in the days of a pen and paper
and the slide rule. Now, we've got computerized factories, JIT
inventory, and more capability than ever before, yet the options are
more limited than ever. Seems to me like somewhere, we headed in the
wrong direction, and we should be using our newfound capabilities to
once again create truly personalized vehicles, rather than vapid
cookie cutters.

-- 
                                          -Jon-

.- Jon Steiger --- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -. | 67 Dodge Coronet, 70 Plymouth Barracuda, 76 Peugeot TSA | | 78 Dodge B100, 90 Dodge Dakota Convertible, 92 Dodge Ram 4x4 | | 96 Dodge Dakota, 96 Suzuki Intruder 1400, 96 Kolb FireFly | | 99 Jeep Cherokee 4x4, 01 Dodge Ram 3500 CTD | `--------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --' . . .------------------------------------------------------------------. | Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML Meet in Colorado! | | Date: July 15-23, 2006 - More info: http://meet.dakota-truck.net | `------------------------------------------------------------------'



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