DCX is expected to announce today that it will build a version of the Dodge Challenger concept that premiered to rave reviews on the auto show circuit this year. Indeed, the GoManGo-colored concept based on the LX rear-drive sedans was my favorite concept of the year, inching out the (imho) disjointed Camaro concept over at GM.
DCX executives quoted in other media say their plan calls for them to build as few as 20,000 Challengers off the full-sized sedan platform, and they acknowledge they could sell as many as 70,000 if the MSRP comes in under $30,000. This is significant, in light of recent comments by Bob Lutz, My Hero.
Herr Lutz recently told a group of journalists that GM would have to sell 100,000 Camaros for it to make sense as a business proposition. Given that Ford sold 160,000 Mustangs last year in a segment it has basically to itself, busting in at 100,000 is a tall order.
The DCX volume is smaller, of course, because it already has a quality rear-drive chassis and component set it can use to underpin the Challenger's Coke-bottle curves, and a North American plant that already builds that platform. GM will have to borrow a rear-drive chassis from Holden, since its current RWD platforms are too expensive (Cadillac and Corvette/XLR) or too small (Solstice/Sky). And a plant will have to be reworked to build it here, so as not to run afoul of the UAW, as GM did when it started bringing in GTOs from Down Undah.
But business case or no, DCX's smart decision to jump into the market is really going to force Lutz's hand ... to say nothing of Chevy dealers sick of seeing Mustangs driving by their lots. But at this rate, even if GM pulls the trigger, it'll be '09 at the earliest before we see the first Camaro on the street. That may wind up being fortuitous: the Mustang will have been out for about five years by that time, and Ford's current money problems and other challenges may keep it from sinking a lot of resources into a new version. Bullitt '09, anyone?
Ultimately, I think GM will build the Camaro, lose money on it, and it'll go away as we all inch closer and closer to driving one-box "multi-activity" vehicles. Meanwhile, the Challenger will be free to slug it out with the Mustang, and keep the "pony car" battle alive.
Ultimately, I think GM will build the Camaro, lose money on it, and it'll go away as we all inch closer and closer to driving one-box "multi-activity" vehicles. Meanwhile, the Challenger will be free to slug it out with the Mustang, and keep the "pony car" battle alive.
Posted by: Clutch Cable | December 12, 2008 at 03:15 AM