This was partly discussed prior in someone's Viper thread in the pics and vids section but it was blown off....
Chrysler Pauses Production of SRT Viper ? News ? Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog
After slowing production of the SRT Viper from nine units per day to six last fall, Chrysler is temporarily halting Viper production altogether for two months, apparently to relieve a glut in unsold cars. The Connor Avenue Assembly plant where the hand-built, $100K-plus Viper is made will stop production beginning the week of April 14th. The plant’s 91 hourly workers will be laid off for that period of time and not reassigned, although they will be brought back when plant operations resume on June 23, according to Chrysler.
Only 91 Vipers were sold in January and February of this year, hardly on pace to meet Chrysler’s initial 1600-unit annual sales projection. Historically, Vipers don’t sell well in winter—and this has been a particularly Viper-unfriendly winter in most of these United States. But could it also be that—somebody’s gotta say it—there’s just not that much demand for such an expensive sports car offered by the young SRT brand, which has virtually no equity yet? Or maybe Viper’s target buyers heard about just how good the new Chevy Corvette Z06 is, and how the Z06 will remain under $100K with all the boxes checked.
Speaking to us this week at the 2014 Chrysler 200 media drive in Louisville, Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau tried to present the situation in a different light. “Others have said that [the production pause is] due to lack of orders. We have not said that.” Customer and dealer demand for the SRT Viper continues “at expected levels,” he said. “The Viper was never intended to sell like a Corvette.”
Chrysler manufacturing spokesperson Jodi Tinson offered a silver lining to the production stoppage. “We’re trying to satisfy our customers’ desire to keep their vehicles exclusive,” she said. “We didn’t want to make too many of them. This will help us manage our production to keep that level of exclusivity.”
We want to go on the record and say that we love the Viper and were stoked that Chrysler brought it back after its Dodge-branded predecessor was discontinued in 2010. But perhaps a little soul-searching might be in order for the Viper’s product planners if it hopes to stay around much longer.
Chrysler Pauses Production of SRT Viper ? News ? Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog
After slowing production of the SRT Viper from nine units per day to six last fall, Chrysler is temporarily halting Viper production altogether for two months, apparently to relieve a glut in unsold cars. The Connor Avenue Assembly plant where the hand-built, $100K-plus Viper is made will stop production beginning the week of April 14th. The plant’s 91 hourly workers will be laid off for that period of time and not reassigned, although they will be brought back when plant operations resume on June 23, according to Chrysler.
Only 91 Vipers were sold in January and February of this year, hardly on pace to meet Chrysler’s initial 1600-unit annual sales projection. Historically, Vipers don’t sell well in winter—and this has been a particularly Viper-unfriendly winter in most of these United States. But could it also be that—somebody’s gotta say it—there’s just not that much demand for such an expensive sports car offered by the young SRT brand, which has virtually no equity yet? Or maybe Viper’s target buyers heard about just how good the new Chevy Corvette Z06 is, and how the Z06 will remain under $100K with all the boxes checked.
Speaking to us this week at the 2014 Chrysler 200 media drive in Louisville, Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau tried to present the situation in a different light. “Others have said that [the production pause is] due to lack of orders. We have not said that.” Customer and dealer demand for the SRT Viper continues “at expected levels,” he said. “The Viper was never intended to sell like a Corvette.”
Chrysler manufacturing spokesperson Jodi Tinson offered a silver lining to the production stoppage. “We’re trying to satisfy our customers’ desire to keep their vehicles exclusive,” she said. “We didn’t want to make too many of them. This will help us manage our production to keep that level of exclusivity.”
We want to go on the record and say that we love the Viper and were stoked that Chrysler brought it back after its Dodge-branded predecessor was discontinued in 2010. But perhaps a little soul-searching might be in order for the Viper’s product planners if it hopes to stay around much longer.
