2009 Dodge Challenger starting at under 22K
From the article: “Admire the 2009 Dodge Challenger’s retro styling and sub-$22,000 starting price — but please don’t ask if it’s got a Hemi.
Even as Chrysler LLC brings back the iconic 1970s-era muscle car, the automaker is attempting to shift its image from pure power to muscle-styling-meets fuel-efficient-affordability.
That message takes shape in the 2009 Dodge Challenger SE, a V-6 version that is part of the car’s mass market lineup coming this fall. A trio of Challengers follows the sell-out success of the limited edition 2008 Challenger SRT8, which along with its 6.1-liter V-8 engine, hit streets in recent weeks. ”
Accavitti said the Challenger might supplant the Dodge Viper sports car as the automaker’s “halo” vehicle — a car that draws customers to the brand, even though they often buy other vehicles.
The future of the Conner Avenue Assembly plant, which makes the $87,000, 8.4L V-10 powered Viper, is in doubt as it was one of three Chrysler assembly plants not to receive future product guarantees in last fall’s labor contract. Accavitti would only say that Chrysler is “looking at it” as far as Viper’s future.
Wow.. it sounds like the Viper’s days are numbered.
Challenger shifts its power pitch - detnews.com
June 10th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I’m getting a little concerned about the lack of Challenger customer traffic at the dealership.
Our phone was ringing off the hook the week before PT Cruiser and 300C came out.
My buyer for our first 08 Challenger bailed out and I have yet to find a replacement buyer.
Did Chrysler drag out the Challenger hype to long or is the gas thing & economy going to hurt Challenger sales.
Maybe I’m worried about nothing; Pre-Challenger jitters.
June 10th, 2008 at 8:45 am
As I’ve been saying all along…if the Challenger is all Chrysler has to brag about, they are are in big trouble. With the price of gas where it is, who in their right mind would buy one of these things?
The new RAM is also out this summer but we’re not hearing much about despite it being one of their key vehicles. I see lots of Claiber and Patroit ads but not much else.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:17 am
challenger hemi 6speed for me soon!
June 10th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hey Rich,Maybe you should hook up with Edward he cant wait to get one…
June 10th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I gotta say the Patriot is probably the best thing Chrysler is selling right now, its fuel efficient for a vehicle of its size and capability, it looks good, its both a commuter and a ‘toy’, and it has a lifetime warranty. If they’d just bring the diesel version to the US they could claim some major mileage numbers. I’d sell my Liberty CRD in a moment for one of those.
So yeah, I can see why the Patriot and Caliber are what is being advertised, they are about the only fuel efficient options Chrysler is selling right now.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I cant wait to get a Challenger SE! Roomy and decent mpg for a big vehicle. And the challenger is sold out through the end of the year so i dont know what rich is talking about.Not everyone is going to be able to afford a srt8 so dont think hundreds of people will be flocking to your dealer right now.But when the base model comes out im sure it will attract new customers that will want a sporty car with lots of room thats pretty good on gas.
And once the oil bubble bursts,,,,, watch out!
June 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am
“Did Chrysler drag out the Challenger hype to long or is the gas thing & economy going to hurt Challenger sales”.
The challenger is sold out through this year. Hopefully gas prices will recover within the next few months. I couldnt imagine the possibilities of the challenger if gas prices go lower!
June 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Ed
Sold out means that all available 08 Challenger SRT-8’s allocation was picked up by the dealers.
It does not mean that each individual Challenger has been pre-sold to a consumer.
There will be 08 Challenger SRT-8’s available for purchase out of dealer stock, if you check Cars.com or Autotrader.com you find Challengers available for sale from dealer’s inventory.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Kudos to Dodge brand director Mike Accavitti for a compelling message that lays it on the line about the direction Dodge is headed, the vibe that will be associated with Dodge..Look, guys, Auburn Hills understands full-well the shortcomings of the product lineup that Cerberus bought. That’s why Daimler gave it away! And they did not sell it, they gave it away. Nardelli, Press, La Sorda and now Accavitti have all spoken publicly and clearly about the need for future products that are in keeping with the demands of the customer. It’s some folks on this weblog, not Auburn Hills, that’s living in the past.. The new models will begin to reach the market in the 2010 model year. Until then, just buckle down and confront the hard times. It’s always darkest before the dawn.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/COL06/806080698/1014/business01
And another round of hearty congratulations to Bob Nardelli for his email to the troops reported by Tom Walsh in his column in the June 8 FREEP. Note especially the fourth and fifth paragraphs, beginning with: “Nardelli wants no whining about Chrysler products not getting a fair shake from Consumer Reports and J.D. Power on vehicle quality…”
The reason for the realism coming from the top brass in Auburn Hills is obvious to anyone who has looked at the monthly sales data from across the industry this year. In May, Chrysler LLC sold 118,747 total vehicles. But Honda, Toyota and Nissan sold a combined total of 255,575 small calls, not all of them Hybrid, but here is the numbers: Honda Civic (53,299), Corolla/Matrix (52,826), Camry and Camry Hybrid ( 51,299), Accord and Accord Hybrid (42,728),and NIssal Altima and Altima Hybrid (34,428). That does not even include Ford Focus (32,579) or Chevy Cobalt (26,702). Anyone remember what Ram sales were in May? 19,727—and each one went off the lot with with heavy incentives.. Times, they are a changing.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Ed - I wouldn’t count on a oil bubble ‘burst’. Estimates are that futures traders only acccount for 10-20% of the current price at the pump, and supply is not an issue at all(despite Bush’s attempts to make it seem like that is the case). The Saudis are sitting on about a 6 month supply they can’t even sell right now.
The only way that price is going to come down is if the value of the dollar rises. And I don’t see any administration willing to raise interest rates high enough to make that happen. As much as people like cheap gas, they like cheap mortgage rates even more, and with the housing market where its at I just don’t see the necessary interest rate changes occurring to bring the value of the dollar up. Most of the current price of fuel is due to the fact that the dollar has lost between one half to two thirds of its value in the past eight years, until that trend reverses, get used to high prices on all imported commodities.
On the other hand, it has been bringing jobs back home, and it makes US made products far more competitive on the international market. If we manufactuered more here we’d be cleaning up about now. And over the long run, that 5.75% refi of my home will save me far more money that higher gas prices will cost me….
June 10th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
o
June 10th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
“The market’s just really trying to find itself,” said Stephen Schork, publisher of The Schork Report, an industry newsletter.
Despite Tuesday’s decline, oil may continue to surge. Increased speculation by large investment and pension funds has been cited as one of the factors contributing to surging oil prices.
“This is just simply a market that is defined by a speculative furvor, or a panic,” said Schork. He compared the oil runup to the dot.com bubble of the 1990s.
Prices are going to $150 a barrel “because a couple of economists at Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) said so,” said Schork.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs global head of commodities research Jeffrey Currie, speaking at a conference in Malaysia, said oil could hit $150 “sometime in summer.”
And a statement made last week by Morgan Stanley analyst Ole Slorer that high demand in Asia could send oil to $150 by July 4 helped fuel Friday’s record rally.
Schork warned that oil will return to $60 a barrel when the bubble eventually bursts, but “until we see material appreciation in the dollar, we won’t see depreciation in oil or commodities.”
The first meeting of investors and regulators who are advising the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to address the price surges was scheduled later Tuesday.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Schork is full of it if he believes that speculation is the primary cause of oil’s rise. The simple fact is that oil is an international commodity. The same as gold. Anytime the dollar drops in value, commodities ‘rise’(in reality they stay the same, its the currency that changed). Yes there is rampant speculation, but as I said, it only accounts for a fraction of that rise. Quite simply: If a dollar from 2001 is worth 50 cents today, then it would take two of them to buy the same amount of any imported item(such a s oil). Its economics 101 folks.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Just to be clearer: Blaming speculators is a method for Americans to more easily believe that they can have thier cake and eat it too. Namely, have super low interest rates but not have it devalue thier currency and buying power internationally. Quite simply the rise in speculation into energy, metals and other commodities is not the cause of the run up, its a symptom of the falling dollar, namely big investors are looking for somewhere secure to keep their money until the dollar recovers, hedging thier investments.
When the dollar recovers some strength(namely, when a politician has the guts to point out that 5.75% mortgages are ludicrous) is when the speculators will have the confidence to move back towards assets priced nationally rather than internationally(such as the DOW).
June 11th, 2008 at 7:48 am
The oil situation is not unlike the automobile industry.
You see the bloated domestic car companies cutting production of their Large SUV’s and Full Size trucks. They are working feverishly to move production towards small cars and its going to take 2 years to get there.
Same as oil, I just sold a Full Size Ram Truck to a guy that’s working on an oil drilling rig. It’s the first time he’s been home in six months.
He told me that they are drilling all over the country and that many domestic wells are just starting to produce and that in the next year or so your going to be talking about a glut of domestic oil production.
It is the same cycle over and over again, oil was to cheap it had to go up. Car makers panic and switch to small cars then oil prices fall and Americans will want their SUV’s back.
This guy is making stupid money and he is just a rigger. He told me that do to a lack of companies available to drill wells they are getting top dollar for their work.
Could be another domestic oil boom in this country. I wonder how well the companies that build drilling bits are doing that would be a good indication if this guy is telling the truth.
All I know is he paid cash and was on to his next job which was in Colorado.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Back to the Challenger:
Great decision with the SE and what a price point. 22K? Chrysler will not be able to build enough of these. 30K is the current production target, I am thinking they will go way beyond that, 50 or 60K at that price and with that type of mileage.
June 11th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Chrysler will also be in much better shape if they get all their plants to produce products more efficient. It will save them tons and tons of money and theyll be able to sell cars a lot cheaper than their competitors.
I still think chrysler is going to have a very difficult time with these insane fuel prices. Its a shame , because the new ram is so nice.
June 11th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Chrysler sold 148,747 vehicles not 118,747!
June 11th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I’m not ordering ANY Challenger SE models.
Even with gas at $ 4+ my customers want the SRT-8 or the R/T.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
mopar dealer… if you were around milwaukee i’d be in your dealer to get one….. just graduated from college and got a job this week!!! AND i dumped the lady… all the right tracks for me getting my hemi 6speed challenger
June 11th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html
Anonymous,
You are right. Thanks for the correction. Obviously, I typed in the wrong number. The correct figure for total Chrysler LLC sales in May was 148,747, not 118,747…But check-out this link to the Wall Street Journal and note that a total of 334,053 small cars were sold vs. 174,573 pickups…
June 11th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_OIL_PRICES?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=BUSINESS.html&CTIME=2008-06-11-11-16-05
Here’s the Associated Press report on the U.S. Department of Energy’s latest prediction on the price of gasoline.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
These oil prices are nothing but a big scam to the american people.One day they have ample supply and the next they dont.Then they say the fall of the dollar is causing the hike and the next day they say the dollar has nothing to do about the prices.Then i read that 70% of the price of oil is on the speculation side.Then i read that oil went up because there might be a hurricane in the next week or two.
So how can there big ample supply one day and the next they dont have any?
Why do the oil companies presidents say oil should be around $60 dollars a barell right now, that oil is to high?
This is nothing more than a economic terrorist attack and we are really going to take a severe beating.
June 11th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Sorry, i meant “barrel”!
————————————————————
8 Times Bigger
Than Saudi Arabia’s
Some optimists believe the spike in oil prices we’ve seen over the last three years is merely temporary.
T. Boone Pickens isn’t one of them.
The long-time oilman and current chairman of BP Capital Management was recently asked in a 60 Minutes interview when he thought we’d see $1.50 a gallon at the pump again. “We won’t ever see $1.50 a gallon again,” said Pickens. “No, that’s gone.”
It’s tough to disagree. On the demand side, citizens of the wealthy West aren’t using any less oil, nor are the up-and-coming Tigers of the East.
On the supply side, just look at many of the world’s biggest exporters: Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. It’s a virtual rogues’ gallery, filled with nations that represent tyranny, corruption or instability.
Fortunately, the world’s single-largest oil deposit sits right here in North America. Time magazine calls it “Canada’s biggest buried treasure.” It’s an area with up to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil, locked in Alberta sand. That’s eight times the total reserves of Saudi Arabia, enough to satisfy the world’s demand for petroleum for the next century.
This is easily the world’s most exciting energy story. And one publicly traded company is supremely positioned to earn billions from this region in the months ahead…
June 12th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Why Mopar Dealer?
Try one or two on the lot for the younger guys that can’t afford the R/T but want the good looks.
I guess I just don’t understand your reasoning for not having at least one on the lot to see how fast it moves as a test study.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Too bad about the Viper..Hopefully Chrysler can find a cost effective way to produce it,and at higher volume and more comparable price to the Corvette..then it hopefully could be profitable and more reasonable to keep it..
Why not a Hybrid Challenger or a Electric Charger..but electric cars dont have a long range.. so I guess a Hybrid Charger as well..as hybrid Aspens,Durango’s,Ram’s are on the way and DaveS, one of your fine links mentioned something about an Hybrid Sebring..
…As for the Ram sales still Chryslers best seller,and I personally dont give a crap if little turd cars out sell it …I still like the Ram.But for Chryslers sake I hope the new Ram sells well as all the new and future models, big trucks,full/mid size,little turd econo cars if they are a Mopar I hope they sell/look better than all others….As back in 1993 I liked the Ram Charger & Daytona Iroc R/T but its sales were very,very weak,but I still like them.I dont buy vehicles based on the popularity of them I buy what I like.. If this was 1973 and I would write I love the Dodge Challenger Rallye , DaveS would complain and say the new civic cvvc is a way better car ….Because of the energy crisis back then I would assume people were bashing muscle/big cars as they are now with trucks and suv’s.. Funny thing, buy what you like and if you cant afford 6 buck a gallon gas dont buy ANY new car,save your money and drive an older car so you wont have monthly payments therefore you have gas money..Wow !! is it that hard…?….
June 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
My lease is up in 5 months.If i can get a good deal on a challenger se, then that baby is mine.A big roomy sportscar with great looks will be perfect!
June 12th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
MoPar
HELL NO I’M NOT GOING TO STOCK A HYBRID DURANGO OR ASSBURN.
General Motors has that market cornered, I was just visiting my brother at a Buick Pontiac GMC store and he told me the Hybrid Yukon’s are sinking into the asphalt.
He says that they are having a difficult time with convincing the consumer to pay for the Hybrid Premium.
Large SUV sales are in the tank and asking someone to pay a premium to own a Hybrid, I don’t think so.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
FYI: Top Fleet Name Plates for 2008
1. Jeep
2. Chrysler
3. Dodge
I thought they told us they were going to cut Fleet sales.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080612/FREE/526009316/1530/FREE
AutoWeek and its sister Crain publication, Automotive News, just went online with this news about General Electric teaming with Chrysler LLC on a battery for fpr plug-in hybrids.
Hope springs eternal.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Anon,
My sales manager also asked why wouldn’t we at least try a few Challenger SE’s. I didn’t want to give up our allocation of Charger RT’s.
I thought most every one who wanted a Challenger would want the bigger engine–horsepower, etc. If someone wanted a value “base” car they could opt for the 300 or better yet the Charger SE Plus.
But the Sales Mgr. agrees with you and wants a few Challenger SE’s because he believes some people will want the Challenger styling–and a 2 Dr. with the V6 engine.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Mopar Dealer…I’m one of them. I need to get my car paid down some, but first chance I get is a nice SE…no V8 for me…would love to have it, but I drive way too much.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Looks like I was definitely wrong Caliber Driver….
Maybe some of those factory fat-heads know what they’re doing!
June 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Mopar Dealer…
I ordered an R/T… I’m actually second guessing my decision right now.
Think about it, now all the Mopar Dad’s out there can get a V6 Challenger for their just out of high scool daughter’s instead of a Mustang. hahaha
Seriously though, I see the V6 Challenger as a win win. Looking at the order sheets, they can be ordered QUITE nicely equipped and the price is right. You can get MYGIG, you can get Leather, you can get Sound Group 1. The package is nice, and it is more in the price range a lot of consumers are looking at.
Good Luck, I can’t wait to see em on the lots.
Mike
June 21st, 2008 at 4:54 am
Mopar dealer,
I have some concerns I am trying to find a dealer that can get me a Hemi Orange 6-speed SRT-8. I do not care about the gas prices. I want this car and the Hilton Head dodge dealer is telling me that i can not order it, even though dodge website says I can. I was approved by Chrysler Financial for the SRT-8 and I have the money for it, and I ready to order, but I just get the feeling like they are running me around, and they are trying to push a 5-speed clutchless srt-8 on me Silver. So I need to know when the 6-speed SRT-8 are going into production,someone please help me so I can BUY THIS CAR. via e-mail jesse.perezii@gmail.com