As the Chrysler Group's undisputed "halo" car, one would believe that the Detroit-based carmaker would want most of its U.S. dealers to be able to show and sell the new 2013 SRT Viper, but that's not the case.
An Autonews report back in July, quoted Ralph Gilles, CEO of the SRT brand, saying that around 15 to 20 percent (or roughly 340 to 460 showrooms) of Chrysler's more than 2,300 U.S. dealers will carry the V10-powered sports car, but according to USA Today, Gilles has now lowered that number even more to only about 100 to 150 shops or 4-6%.
Gilles told the newspaper that the No. 1 requirement, "Is first of all, to have the fire, the passion. That's the unofficial requirement -- that you have a love affair with the cars and you just love fast cars."
Chuck Eddy, owner of Bob and Chuck Eddy Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram near Youngstown, Ohio, explained to the USA Today why it's important for him (and evidently, other dealers as well), to have the sports car in his showroom: "It's the image. I want to be able to say I have Viper."
While all Chrysler dealers can sell and service all other SRT models, those handpicked to sell the Viper, will have to pay the company a one-time fee of $20,000 and another $5,000 to buy a base agreement for tools, equipment, training and signs along with preferential ordering and additional allocation of special models like the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, Gilles told Automotive News.
There are two basic reasons why Chrysler is being fussy about the Viper. The first is that only about 2,000 examples of the 640-horsepower sports car will be built each year, therefore, there are not enough cars to supply each U.S. dealer with one.
The other reason is that the company wants to elevate the SRT brand in general. "The SRT cars are starting to pull in a very, very interesting demographic -- much higher income, much higher education levels. The customer is becoming more sophisticated," Gilles told the news site.
Peter Grady, Chrysler's vice president of network development and fleet, added that dealers opting into the SRT brand agreements must meet certain criteria and customer satisfaction requirements in order to qualify for the preferential ordering and extra allocation of cars.
"This is a different kind of a customer, a different approach, and it requires a different sort of commitment," he said.
The new 2013 Viper will go on sale in the States later this fall with a starting price of $99,390 (roughly €77,000 at today's exchange rates), including a destination and handling fee.
31 Comments:
...and all the 2013 SRT Viper owners will get the distinguish honor to help pay for those factory fee for the dealer, in addition to the up charge that the dealer will charge you for the privilege to one of these those.
with Fiat's help, Chrysler is again nailing it own coffin.
wow! they are going to kill this model viper before it even hits showrooms. if i was someone with the money to buy a new srt viper id be one pissed mother fucker if i had to travel several miles just to even look at one before i bought it just cause they dont want most dealerships to carry them. that'll be like chevolet saying on 125 dealers in the u.s. can sell the corvette. can you imagine how many customers chelolet would lose if they did that? prolly over half the corvette owners.
from some angles this car looks awesome. From other angles...it looks like someone took a 1989 pontiac grand am and tried to create a viper.
I think it's a good idea. Viper is not a mass market vehicle and therefore there is no need to make it available to all dealerships. It is not unusual for new cars/brands to roll out in limited (test) markets. I would guess many Chrysler dealerships of dated and located in small markets, and a Viper sitting in the showroom for huge markup would only dilute the brand. The flip side of the argument is that a Viper in a showroom would certainly attract buyers to the Chrysler/Fiat brand. If Viper is a success, they can always increase production. My guess is Chrysler will make as many Vipers as the market/consumer demands.
what an ignorant ass comment...how many Ferrari and Lamborghini dealerships do you see posted in a random city? Hmm? What about Maserati, Bentley, and Rolls Royce, hell even Jaguar or Porsche? They arent all over the place is my point and in fact are very few and far in between people who can afford these cars drive, fly, have transported or whatever the case maybe to get the car they want. A viper is no corvette and it never has been....frankly a vette is a run of the mill sports car now adays and that it always has been. A Viper is far more exotic, and exclusive and just like the brands i mentioned above with limited distribution, the viper will sell fine. The bottom line is so many of chryslers dealerships suck ass, they have poor customer service, even worse mechanics, and frankly the type of client they want to get into the new Viper will be turned off by the poorly ran 95% of Chrysler dealerships that are used to employing, and catering to the bottom of the barrel types
Well, the Viper sure isn't a Ferrari either!
As someone who worked at a Chrysler dealership back in the day, I can tell you that wasn't always the case. The primary reason for Chrysler dealerships being so poor is that they have to sell a product which is so poor. Chrysler dealerships that are combined with other brands held a higher standard back then as I imagine they do today, because they have cars that people actually want, that is to say non-Chrysler cars.
As to the viper being exotic, laughable, only in the minds of the average redneck does this car qualify as exotic. It has a truck motor, which really hasn't undergone the kind of technological improvements necessary to make it comparable or even competitive with the other cars in its class. Just compare Chrysler's motor to the V10 Audi produces. And I'll take a Corvette GM V-8 any day over that V-10 as well.
It's too bad Chrysler's performance division doesn't have some of the people who were working there back in the late 60s, because if they did they'd be able to compete with anyone. Sadly they no longer have an interest in hiring the best people so you wind up with a product that is all about marketing and branding without the real-world performance necessary to back it up.
But I'll reserve my judgment on this new Viper until I see it run against a Nissan GT-R, and if it doesn't get totally embarrassed, well then maybe I'll rethink my assessment. But until then Chrysler = junk in the minds of those of us who live in reality.
ummm ferrari and lambos and bentlys and rolls royces arent massed produced and npormally cost near $200'000+ in price. more than double the price of a viper. and i'm sure they normally sell way more vipers in 2010 than any of those brands. if your gonna do this to the viper then put the price tag of these exotics you mentioned onto the viper.....and i agree about the crysler part u are ranting about.
Who ever was thinking they were going to get a SRT Viper for list , you can just forget that now.
"The other reason is that the company wants to
elevate the SRT brand in general. "The SRT cars are starting to pull in a
very, very interesting demographic -- much higher income, much higher
education levels. The customer is becoming more sophisticated," Gilles
told the news site. "
Way to insult the customer base, that pays your salary and keeps your company (barely) afloat, dandy boy... Goes to show whats wrong with the US these days.
Yeah having low volume dealers for this should be the correct move.
Having a right salesman being able to introduce you the car and having the car be brought to you by a certified dealer is much better then just going and having low customer service for a 100k+ car.
Yes if you are just looking at the sticker price of the car then you are ignorant.
Hope they can deliver the viper. Last gen viper was a real true track car.
I'd buy one...if only to slap a "Your Tax Dollars At Work" bumper sticker on the back of it :P.
you like the old clearly suffering from dementia idiot above you , know nothing of cars. An exotic by definition isn't a car that starts at a certain price point, its any number of things that would make a vehicle a rare sight on public roads. Nothing from Lotus or Maserati sells for $200,000 yet they are all exotics..........also uhm yeah its 2012 madame why are you referencing 2010? The viper sells in double digit figures monthly thats a fact, not the 3 to 4 digit figures seen by Vettes. Maybe if you took a little more time to research the pseudo facts your vomiting all over this blog you would find the viper sells in similar volumes to european exotics.....what happened to the days when people blogs knew everything about cars, Im starting to feel like the uber car guy here uh.....
I agree they have alot in common, the both have doors, a windshield, a roof, and wheels....i totally see the resemblance...stfu
How is that an insult?
I guess you are saying they should not try to sell Vipers in East Bumfuck, Arkansas. Makes sense.
If you need government assistance you should not be buying a Viper.
Try a proctologist, maybe he can get that GT-R out of your ass and you will start making sense.
That 25.000 will get passes on to the consumer. I would not buy a car from any chrysler dealer who has a viper in its showroom. That is dumb of them to charge the dealer 25k to sell. like I said the consumer will some how end up paying that fee, maybe 200 tack on to each car the dealer has?
That's not an insult. Mopar is getting better educated and wealther people into their high end models.
No automaker wants bluecollar workers in their hi-po models anyway; it's terrible for the brand's public image.
Doing clean-ups in a dealer does not make you an expert.
Double digit sales make it exotic? It's a Viper, while limited (only by $$$) for now, check eBay and see how many previous generation cars are on the market.
I'd call you an uber ass, more inline to a car salesman that Dodge is trying to make sure the customer doesn't come into contact with on this car.
V-10 comparison, laughable. Give me any V-10 lambo or Audi that can stand against the previous viper (track times) nowhere close. The R8 is the most overrated "super car" ever, overpriced tag for crappy performance. GT-R is an awesome car, but do you see the red map on the right side of the screen that says NURBURGRING? If you know what that is tell me which car is higher ranked in the list. You call the Viper V-10 a truck motor i tell you go get some knowledge. It is naturally aspirated, meaning they don't care about pumping hp to raise the price like other brands for useless drag times. Viper was, is and will always be about handling and skill required cars. You tell me Audi V-10 come on man!
No car would be a good car without an adequate after-sale service. And with those performances, you really need it!
Easy, Hugh. I live in Arkansas and East B.F. is just down the road. However, we are much more sophisticated here in West B.F.
aaron go back to driving your piece of shit honda accord
Wow! Where do I start. There are some people on here who consider themselves car guys and are actually trying to define the term "exotic". You can take any car and throw truck loads of money at it and make it an exotic. In my opinion, a true exotic is a numbered car (that means limited amount produced for the challenged). Let's say 500. Heck... let's say only one making it a unicorn. Now someone else may say an exotic is a vehicle which uses pristine materials with an entrance fee of about a million. In the end, exotic is a term reserved for dinner table conversation. Again, that's my opinion. As far as the demographic Chrysler is trying to attract, it's anyone who has the dough bro! If they were trying to target a certain type of buyer, then why not create an SRT network to do that. Finally, for the love of God would people stop comparing the Viper to an Audi R8 or Nissan GTR. While the performance of these vehicles are similar, they are completely different animals. All are amazing machines, but they go about their business differently. The Audi and GTR are way more refined in their execution. The R8 and GTR are filet mignon, while the Viper is Philly cheese steak! Comparing stats is bullshit when you can only use a fraction of these cars abilities on the street, which by the way, is where most buyers will be driving them. And yes, if the car is all that SRT promises, I will be buying one. That is, only if they don't price the Viper at a level where an Audi R8 makes more sense. (I like the GTR, but I prefer to shift it myself!)
Hope I did not offend.
What do they want to make from Viper - another highly exclusive, extremely priced supercar like their Ferrari, that quite no one could afford? Fiat, You so missing the 'American Way of Drive' - Viper aren't intended for millionaire...
nice information about junk cars. keep it up.
money for cars to scrap
Post a Comment