End of the line for the Hellcat Charger?

[DixieRestoParts]

Saw this article and thought I'd post. Honestly, I'm an old school guy and the new stuff, while cool, doesn't get me excited like old iron does.  I can't help but think a 4 cyl turbo is a bad idea. I bought a Shelby Charger  new  in '87. What a POS!! Hopefully things have changed in 30 years, but I'm thinking that car will be a pig and sales will plummet.

What do you guys think?


http://nseavoice.com/cars/next-dodge-charger-reports-hinting-on-the-end-of-hellcat-92009862.html

[Mytur Binsdirti]

End of the line? They just really got the thing into full production this year.   

[Troy]

This article ties the engine to the redesign of the platform - but that was just pushed back from 2018 to something like 2022.

Troy

[DixieRestoParts]

This article ties the engine to the redesign of the platform - but that was just pushed back from 2018 to something like 2022.

Troy

That's good, but that sounds like a long time before they redesign it. Don't they like to do that every 4-5 years or something like that?

[Mike DC]

  
The dowsizing isn't just a Dodge thing.  Everyone's cars are in for a major downsizing soon to meet Federal MPG regs.  The laws were passed years ago.  The restrictions are steadily increasing by the year.  

Ford's new aluminum pickup bodies are the first tangible evidence of what's coming.  

[Brock Lee]

I just spent a week hanging out with a Dodge dealership owner. He told me Charger sales have plummeted not only at his dealership, but across the board.

[JB400]

End of the Hellcat?  Bogus.  Introducing smaller engines into full size cars?  Definitely.  That's what all the other manufacturers have been doing for the last few years.  It's just taken Dodge this long to catch up with them.  Expect for it to continue.

The Hellcat will still continue on for a quite a few years, just in lighter cars.

I just spent a week hanging out with a Dodge dealership owner. He told me Charger sales have plummeted not only at his dealership, but across the board.

I can understand this.  Suv's are hot right now.

[1974dodgecharger]

CAFE requirements are not just to one car folks  the AVERAGE MPG has to meet the requirements of a certain MPG hence whey have cars that get 45mpg and hellcats get 14mpg the average is whats important across the WHOLE FLEET!!!

[71charger_fan]

Charger sales (in the U.S.) were down in Feb and Apr compared to 2015, but were up in Jan, Mar, and May.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2011/01/dodge-charger-sales-figures.html

[Mytur Binsdirti]

If my math is correct, they are down 7,157 units (US) from this time last year. I don't know how the rest of their product line is going, but that's not too terrible. There's still a long way to go to get the final year end count.

[Troy]

This article ties the engine to the redesign of the platform - but that was just pushed back from 2018 to something like 2022.

Troy

That's good, but that sounds like a long time before they redesign it. Don't they like to do that every 4-5 years or something like that?

It does - especially since the platform is over a decade old already. Earlier they had prototypes of all sorts of next generation cars and the consensus was that a major redesign would be out by 2018. The Charger was supposed to shrink to about the size of a BMW 3 series (although I'm sure that's because Fiat already has something in that range and they can just redesign the outside). I didn't really pay attention to why they moved the release but I think I remember something about spending money on cars that are popular worldwide (ie Jeeps and a few of the smaller cars).

Troy

[Mytur Binsdirti]

It does - especially since the platform is over a decade old already. 

It's actually older than that when you consider that the platform it was based on was the old 2000 era E-series Mercedes.

[Mike DC]

The raw LX platform is old but I'm not sure what they would want to change on it.   

[Arigmaster]

Well if they have to down size... They can always reduce the Charger to a 2 door...  *Snickering*   

[DixieRestoParts]

Well if they have to down size... They can always reduce the Charger to a 2 door...  *Snickering*   

What a novel idea !!

[1974dodgecharger]

Well if they have to down size... They can always reduce the Charger to a 2 door...  *Snickering*   

oh DAYUM you just opened up a can of worms 

[tcs69rt]

I wonder if it will be a 2 door again? 

[Mike DC]

 

We should ask for carburetors while we're at it.   

[Troy]

The raw LX platform is old but I'm not sure what they would want to change on it.   

The size was the big thing. Maybe they can actually shrink it all without starting from scratch?

Troy