With regard to the chassis being dated.... Chrysler is developing the next chassis named the LH, which is an update of the LX platform. It should debut at the same time as the Challenger. See how good they timed it? That way they can develop the Challenger along with the 300/Charger, instead of reengineering the LX to make it work. Obviously this lowers costs for them

 

According to this article, http://www.allpar.com/cars/dodge/challenger.html

the Challenger will come with a 5 speed manual transmission (and 5 speed automatic), However, the writers of the article " believe" that it won't come until after the 1st year run of automatics, and will be on the 6.1L Hemi. FWIW

 

funny thing that i picked up from that article.
the challenge of building the car on the same line as the 300c/charger.

last time i checked the new gen ford mustang is built on the same line as the mazda 6. so i would think that the challenger wouldnt be a HUGE problem. when you think it, the 6/stang line is not even a similar platform. Your looking at a front wheel drive 4 cylinder/6cylinder car, availible in sedan and wagon. Compared to a 6cyl/8cyl rear wheel drive car that is coupe and convertible. I mean next thing your going to hear is that the mazda 5, and the cx7 are going to move in as well as the next gen ford ranger. So then every class of consumer availible vehicle will be built on the same line!! lol

cant wait to check one out. Hopefuly my father bites the bullet and buys one to start the war with my stang

 

Well, the Mustang/Mazda6 line was designed from the start to be a flexible manufacturing line. It can handle platforms of varied types. It's possible that the 300/Charger line wasn't designed that way and the Challenger is just different enough to be a problem.

 

It was, IIRC.