No Plans To Produce Challenger
12/7/05, 10:01 PM
#1
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Well doesn't that just beat all:
"Kevin Verduyn, head of Chrysler’s U.S. design operations, stated over the weekend that his company currently has no plans to produce the recently leaked Challenger Concept. The car is expecting to debut in concept form that the Detroit auto show in January, and recent spy photos revealed a completely undisguised prototype. Verduyn does point out, however, that there has been a massive interest in the car since the spy photos began circulating online."
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:notnice:
"Kevin Verduyn, head of Chrysler’s U.S. design operations, stated over the weekend that his company currently has no plans to produce the recently leaked Challenger Concept. The car is expecting to debut in concept form that the Detroit auto show in January, and recent spy photos revealed a completely undisguised prototype. Verduyn does point out, however, that there has been a massive interest in the car since the spy photos began circulating online."
Link
:notnice:
12/7/05, 10:05 PM
#2
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Probably just more hype. Pretend its coming out, then its not coming out, then people after much requesting, hope and anticipation its coming out again. Sure would be a killer car though.
12/8/05, 01:12 AM
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Hey, you forgot to post the last part of this article:
"One can only assume Verduyn is playing it safe, and leaving any official announcement of production to the appropriate executives. Should the Challenger go into production, Verduyn says he thinks it should remain two-door. That would make sense, considering the Dodge Charger fills the four-door muscle car segment."
My two cents:
of course if no decision on wether they will produce it or not hasn't officially been made at DCX, the guy will say something like "It's a concept and that's it, we have no plans at the moment to make it", he couldn't say anything else, really...
Why do you think pictures of the concept made it to the internet and DCX didn't do anything about it (like GM has done for the Camaro pics...I mean they requested all websites to erase those pics...) ?
It's because they have noticed the success of the Mustang and they made sure their concept's pics would come out for them to study the reaction of people: it was no mistake, but instead a calculated move.
They are probing us to see if a car like that would sell in decent numbers (hey DCX, if you are reading this I wanna say one thing: make it and I will buy it...you got one sale right HERE)...Otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to "leak" these pics to the public more than a full month before NAIAS (the fact they were leaked I believe ON PURPOSE, makes me feel that they are more than willing to produce it...)...
I personally believe they will end up making it, with a few modifications here and there, but retaining the core of the looks the concept has...
Have faith !
"One can only assume Verduyn is playing it safe, and leaving any official announcement of production to the appropriate executives. Should the Challenger go into production, Verduyn says he thinks it should remain two-door. That would make sense, considering the Dodge Charger fills the four-door muscle car segment."
My two cents:
of course if no decision on wether they will produce it or not hasn't officially been made at DCX, the guy will say something like "It's a concept and that's it, we have no plans at the moment to make it", he couldn't say anything else, really...
Why do you think pictures of the concept made it to the internet and DCX didn't do anything about it (like GM has done for the Camaro pics...I mean they requested all websites to erase those pics...) ?
It's because they have noticed the success of the Mustang and they made sure their concept's pics would come out for them to study the reaction of people: it was no mistake, but instead a calculated move.
They are probing us to see if a car like that would sell in decent numbers (hey DCX, if you are reading this I wanna say one thing: make it and I will buy it...you got one sale right HERE)...Otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to "leak" these pics to the public more than a full month before NAIAS (the fact they were leaked I believe ON PURPOSE, makes me feel that they are more than willing to produce it...)...
I personally believe they will end up making it, with a few modifications here and there, but retaining the core of the looks the concept has...
Have faith !
12/8/05, 01:23 AM
#4
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Maybe what's really eating me is if they DO build it, then I will feel compelled to buy one of each - Mustang, Challenger and Camaro (if it looks like the pics we just saw).
I'm a-gonna be broke...
I'm a-gonna be broke...
12/8/05, 05:35 AM
#5
They built the viper and the prowler, and those were not intended for production either.
D-C is obviously playing it safe. I am positive we will see a production version of this car.
D-C is obviously playing it safe. I am positive we will see a production version of this car.
12/8/05, 10:08 AM
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Welcome to last week! It took you this long to finally read down that far in the article?
I pointed out that there were no plans for production of the Challenger concept last week in the other thread about the Challenger concept, but everybody got so excited speculating that they were going to offer the top of the line "hemi" version for $28K.
I pointed out that there were no plans for production of the Challenger concept last week in the other thread about the Challenger concept, but everybody got so excited speculating that they were going to offer the top of the line "hemi" version for $28K.
Originally posted by BC_Shelby@December 7, 2005, 11:04 PM
Well doesn't that just beat all:
"Kevin Verduyn, head of Chrysler’s U.S. design operations, stated over the weekend that his company currently has no plans to produce the recently leaked Challenger Concept. The car is expecting to debut in concept form that the Detroit auto show in January, and recent spy photos revealed a completely undisguised prototype. Verduyn does point out, however, that there has been a massive interest in the car since the spy photos began circulating online."
Link
:notnice:
Well doesn't that just beat all:
"Kevin Verduyn, head of Chrysler’s U.S. design operations, stated over the weekend that his company currently has no plans to produce the recently leaked Challenger Concept. The car is expecting to debut in concept form that the Detroit auto show in January, and recent spy photos revealed a completely undisguised prototype. Verduyn does point out, however, that there has been a massive interest in the car since the spy photos began circulating online."
Link
:notnice:
12/8/05, 10:17 AM
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Originally posted by Galaxie@December 8, 2005, 6:38 AM
They built the viper and the prowler, and those were not intended for production either.
D-C is obviously playing it safe. I am positive we will see a production version of this car.
They built the viper and the prowler, and those were not intended for production either.
D-C is obviously playing it safe. I am positive we will see a production version of this car.
They had a promising concept in the late '90s called the Venom, which would have been a great rwd coupe. I was a big Mopar fan for years and us Mopar fans had been waiting since the early 80's for a RWD coupe. This looked really promising, and would have been built off a modified Neon platform, which would have made it affordable. But did they build it? nope.
They seem to be good at building low volume halo cars though. So maybe this would be like the Viper, high priced and very limited production, like about 500 a year.
Its tough getting a '06 Mustang GT in some areas (I'm still waiting for mine), so imagine how tough it would be to get a popular car produced in even lower quantities...
12/8/05, 02:08 PM
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Even if we don't see that exact car or badging we'll most likely see some sort of high performance vehicle from them.
It was neat while it lasted, but then again it just seemed a bit too convenient that the spy shots were of a vehicle that had not masking whatsover to disguise the car.
It was neat while it lasted, but then again it just seemed a bit too convenient that the spy shots were of a vehicle that had not masking whatsover to disguise the car.
12/8/05, 02:50 PM
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I am not quite sure they will not produce it.
If you look at what concept vehicles look like nowadays, I believe you can find three different types:
1) totally outlandish (like that Nissan Pi-vo...the one where the whole cabin spins 360 degrees), in my opinion they are made only to showcase the creativity the designers of a brand have, just a way to say "Hey we are here and look at what we can do !", with no intention of producing it.
2) mid of the way (and personally I would include the Camaro in this category), IMO these are made to give the public a general direction where a brand is going for a certain type of vehicle in the (relatively) close future, say a few years.
3) pretty close to production already in their concept state. IMO these are made to gage the reaction of the public to a vehicle that, unless it would gather almost unanimous negative feedback, would most likely be produced. Examples: Audi Shooting Brake (=the next Audi TT), Mitsubishi Concept X (=the next Evo X), Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 (if you remember, when it came out they said it was a concept, although 95 % of it was what you'd see when the final, production vehicle would be made. At the time everyone was thinking the name would be Ford Mustang Cobra or something like that...) and IMO the Challenger. The Challenger just needs a couple of bumpers and it could be made into a production car exactly the way it looks.
As I already said, DCX didn't make any effort to have the now famous pics of the Challenger taken off from the internet...They want to see what people think of it...
A full month before NAIAS...If they were only showing a concept with no intention of producing it, I don't honestly see the point of getting people so hyped up...
And finally what this guy from DCX said is not really that important, he is the head of the design bureau there, not the guy in charge of checking if it would be commercially succesful to produce that car, not a bean counter basically. This guy was told to create it as far as the exterior/interior look are concerned, that's it...I would be surprised if he had any saying in wether they will make it or not...and finally his comment was the only safe one he could have made now...
I believe the Challenger will be produced. I really do.
If you look at what concept vehicles look like nowadays, I believe you can find three different types:
1) totally outlandish (like that Nissan Pi-vo...the one where the whole cabin spins 360 degrees), in my opinion they are made only to showcase the creativity the designers of a brand have, just a way to say "Hey we are here and look at what we can do !", with no intention of producing it.
2) mid of the way (and personally I would include the Camaro in this category), IMO these are made to give the public a general direction where a brand is going for a certain type of vehicle in the (relatively) close future, say a few years.
3) pretty close to production already in their concept state. IMO these are made to gage the reaction of the public to a vehicle that, unless it would gather almost unanimous negative feedback, would most likely be produced. Examples: Audi Shooting Brake (=the next Audi TT), Mitsubishi Concept X (=the next Evo X), Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 (if you remember, when it came out they said it was a concept, although 95 % of it was what you'd see when the final, production vehicle would be made. At the time everyone was thinking the name would be Ford Mustang Cobra or something like that...) and IMO the Challenger. The Challenger just needs a couple of bumpers and it could be made into a production car exactly the way it looks.
As I already said, DCX didn't make any effort to have the now famous pics of the Challenger taken off from the internet...They want to see what people think of it...
A full month before NAIAS...If they were only showing a concept with no intention of producing it, I don't honestly see the point of getting people so hyped up...
And finally what this guy from DCX said is not really that important, he is the head of the design bureau there, not the guy in charge of checking if it would be commercially succesful to produce that car, not a bean counter basically. This guy was told to create it as far as the exterior/interior look are concerned, that's it...I would be surprised if he had any saying in wether they will make it or not...and finally his comment was the only safe one he could have made now...
I believe the Challenger will be produced. I really do.
12/8/05, 03:10 PM
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Ford built the GT concept just to have a little fun and had no intentions to build it. but the reponse to it was amazing, so they built it. I feel the reponse to this challenger is great and will only grow with the release of the concept. I'm pretty sure we will see it in the future. I am a hardcore mustang fan, but that challenger is so cool and I would love to see it on the road
12/9/05, 10:30 AM
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I think they are just being a little bit coy, really. Neither DC nor GM are that stupid, well, maybe the latter..., and they can certainly see the success of the Mustang and are probably looking for something other than hulking SUVs to sell. I think there is, as the Mustang has well shown, a market for Pony Cars and performance coupes.
Detroit seemed to have talked themselves that there wasn't due primarily to the lack of any good Pony cars. I think it sort of became a circular reasoning after a while. But the redesigned Stang, a very good example of the breed, has shown an overlooked demand that I'm sure others are eager to cash in on.
Both GM and DC have ample parts bins to piece together their own and may have even an easier development in that they might not have to develop and tool up a unique platform as did Ford with the S-197, which seemed to then necessitate some obvious engineering/content cost cutting to meet price points. I am surprised Ford has not made broader use of the S-197 platform yet as I think Mercury desparately could use a Cougar to liven up their grim showroom floors or even Lincoln to broaden their buyer demographics into flusher, younger realms.
Detroit seemed to have talked themselves that there wasn't due primarily to the lack of any good Pony cars. I think it sort of became a circular reasoning after a while. But the redesigned Stang, a very good example of the breed, has shown an overlooked demand that I'm sure others are eager to cash in on.
Both GM and DC have ample parts bins to piece together their own and may have even an easier development in that they might not have to develop and tool up a unique platform as did Ford with the S-197, which seemed to then necessitate some obvious engineering/content cost cutting to meet price points. I am surprised Ford has not made broader use of the S-197 platform yet as I think Mercury desparately could use a Cougar to liven up their grim showroom floors or even Lincoln to broaden their buyer demographics into flusher, younger realms.
12/9/05, 10:55 AM
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This is certainly a calculated exercise by DC. They allowed unmasked photos of a Challenger to be freely circulated on the internet to generate an initial buzz. Then they make statements such as this to see how much of an outcry is produced. If both events create sufficient interest then they move the "concept" into the next phase otherwise it gets killed, basically creating a go/no go decision point. It's just a marketing technique to create a crude measure of "interested universe".
DC isn't going to sit on it's Charger and see what happens with this market, they are going to jump in with both feet and answer with a version of the Challenger. GM will probably jump on board as well but their direction is less defined at this stage.
DC isn't going to sit on it's Charger and see what happens with this market, they are going to jump in with both feet and answer with a version of the Challenger. GM will probably jump on board as well but their direction is less defined at this stage.
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