Sold only 591 all of last year... Chrysler to temporarily shutter Detroit plant that makes Vipers | The Detroit News Chrysler Group LLC is temporarily idling the Detroit factory that produces its high-end SRT Viper super-car, which has had slumping sales in recent months. Chrysler Group confirms that its Conner Avenue Assembly Plant will be down, beginning the week of April 14, said spokeswoman Jodi Tinson in an email to The Detroit News. Production will resume the week of June 23. Ninety-one UAW-represented employees will be laid off during this time. Chrysler only sold 591 Vipers last year and 91 in the first two months of this year. The SRT Viper is a hand-crafted American exotic car that is designed for a specific consumer that values performance, style and exclusivity. It has never been intended to be a mass-production vehicle as less than 29,000 vehicles have been produced in the past 20 years, said Chrysler spokeswoman Dianna Gutierrez. The ability to increase and decrease production at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant allows the company to continue to meet our customers desire to keep these special cars exclusive, she added. Customer and dealer demand for the SRT Viper continues at expected levels. We will be able to take advantage of this transition to manage dealer inventories as we prepare for an exciting 2015 model year.
they have a 400+ days supply on the ground = not good Corvette has about a 30 -40 days supply = desired state
I agree with Mark. At 75-95k, was a competitive price. But a $125k, it's just not in the same league. That's a used 430, Gallardo, 911 turbo. Hope they get it worked out, it's great to see them back.
For what the car costs they should stretch the V10 into a V12 pushrod motor, They would also have lots of boat motor sales to balance the cost. Then send the viper to Lotus and get them to do some magic on the handling. Let us order them the way we want, ie the hodo we want seats etc. The current viper packages are too constircting. Lastly, how of where can one testd rive a viper. The vette is hard to beat, the viper is betetr perfoming than a z51 C7 bit it will get smoked when the z06 comes out.
That's true, although the TA version will handily surpass all of those on the track, if not the local poseur fest at Cars and Coffee.
The car's performance (acceleration, braking, handling) isn't the issue. Long-gone are the days when the Viper couldn't stop or turn Heck, a GenV Viper currently holds the lap record at Laguna Seca. Even the fit & finish, for the most part, are on-par with any vehicle, anywhere near it's price range. What's hurt the Viper sales more than anything are problems in marketing, in my view.
I like the Viper a lot more than the C7 or a c6 zr1. We'll see what the c7 z06 does, but right now the Viper is in a completely different league to the c7. 50 cars a month sounds about right for a car like the Viper, no? I didn't think they targeted more than 500-700 cars a year. Edit: I checked an their target for the whole production run is 2000 cars, so seems like they're right on.
More than marketing, the looks. The first gen viper looks a million times better than the current gen. A Viper should look mean. The current model looks like a Fish. And it's true about the marketing. They should have kept it a Dodge. Here is a pic of a white one I took at the D.C. auto show in January Compare it to the 1996 GTS. Totally different league style wise. The 1996 Viper was one of the most iconic sports cars of the 1990's. The current gen is simply nothing of the sort. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
As a long time Viper fan and owner the new car just does very little for me. The styling is an amateurish copy of the gen II and the price is ridiculous. It was DOA and I called it a year ago
Totally agree Jerry. This car has 4 problems 1) It's reputation (from earlier years) as being a beast and maybe even flat out dangerous to drive. It may be unfair but that's the reputation is has -- neck snapping acceleration and burning rubber but not much else. 2) the price. 3) looks which just seems too much like "been there, done that". They just were not very creative this time and it bit them. Why buy a new one when there are good used ones at half the price that look pretty much the same? They are weekend cars anyway. 4) It's not a daily driver like the Vette. People can justify buying a Vette because they know it won't only be a weekend car. I don't know anyone who would say that about the Viper. They will make about 22,000 Corvettes this year. They will make about 400 Vipers. That's pretty much all the proof you need that they missed the mark.
Its sad because dynamically its a good car. Its just too bland. There is no menance. A Viper should essentially be a 1965 Cobra Coupe mixed with a Lamborghini Venono. Curvy and mean. I can't beleive uow much they missed the mark. Where is the crosshair? Where are the fog lights? To be honest, the car in person does not look to bad. But I wouldnt drop $148k(!) On a loaded GTS and have the car look like that.
bit of a tangent, but I don't get what they're trying to do with Dodge....they're largely known for three vehicles, Minivans, Viper and Ram. so what's the logical decision? separate two of the three into new brands! just kill off Dodge completely at that point. branded as a Dodge, there's lots of marketing tie in to muscle cars, Mopar, etc etc. they threw that all away... it's a shame, as I love the Viper racing team. would be a shame to lose that. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
they completely missed judged the price point.....styling (while not innovative) looks to be an evolution of the older cars. $85k would have peaked my interest. plus you have to rub elboes with the dodge crowd / dealer network / consumer which is below the chevy market, imho. it is still a dodge.
It is too bad. There were SO many mis-steps, bad decisions, etc made with the Viper. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end for the car (for the second and probably final time). Jimmy
But one has to give Dianna Gutierrez credit....that's one hell of a positive spin on what is clearly a sales/marketing failure. I'm sure the workers at Conner Avenue share her enthusiasm for "exclusivity" as they sit on their butts, not getting paid. Jimmy
I owned almost all Gen viper's and enjoyed every engine start and I'm sad this is happening. to me it's one of the best modern American spot car and honestly my favorite so far. As far why it's not selling I thought of many possibilities and people thought too. yet I'm not sure what actually happened but more hp and the ability to unlock the ecu is what i believe could helped it and maybe a DCT since people rarely like manuals this days. Pricing wise I'm not sure the viper ever been offred as an affordable car ! going back I paid like mid 70's for my new Gen 2 viper. And between 90k+ to 106k for my Gen 4 viper's. you can still get a Gen V viper for 100k even bellow msrp now which is not a bad deal imho I just believe the fully loaded GTS viper's people are benchmarking. I also disagree on the look to me the Gen V looks amazing and the built quality it's better than my Gen 4 viper's, as I've been told by current Gen V and Gen 4 owners. Hopefully will know soon when mine is delivered. Hope things get better for the Viper and Ralph. Road Test: 2014 SRT Viper: Road Test: 2014 SRT Viper - YouTube Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
New one looks great, sounds great, and drives great.....Their failure is they dont tell people about it.......
No, I think everyone who is interested in a car like this knows about it. I would say reputation has more to do with it. I agree they should have made a V8 version that was more in the 65-70K area with 450 HP. I think sales would really take off at that price as an alternative to the C7. Oh... and I know its sacrilege but add an auto as an option. 80% of all C7 sales are auto's. If you want the Viper to survive, it has to adapt to a larger audience.
When was the last time anyone walked into a Dodge dealership, they have sub par personel for sales and service for Ram trucks, chargers etc let alone greet and show a potential buyer a $100K exhotic.
No i dont think they do. The whole SRT split thing was confusing for a lot of people. Then they came and went for a year or two or something like that. They needed to do way more fun videos like the leno vid below. Give the car to comedians and cars getting coffee, get it in a movie, more commercials etc. etc. reputation goes back to their failures on the sales and mkting side, as observed by steve above. The car is good though.... Jay Leno's Garage
I think a big problem is the test drive issue, mentioned earlier. Because the car is rare, used examples are rare, and the dealers I contacted would not allow a new Viper to be test driven (and it is very hit or miss to find a used one to drive). While I understand why, I'm unwilling to buy a Dodge that I can't test drive. Ferrari's newest I get I won't get to drive--but they have a years long waiting list--so different story. But when my local Ferrari shop will give me a California or any Maser for a 24 hour test, and my Dodge dealer won't even let me sit in the Viper, something is amiss.
