- Chrysler on Tuesday confirmed that the 2013 SRT Viper will hit the market in late 2012 — but not as a Dodge.
- Chrysler told Inside Line the production car will debut next spring at the 2012 New York Auto Show.
- Chrysler said the 2013 Viper will share no parts with Maserati or Ferrari.
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Chrysler on Tuesday confirmed that the 2013 SRT Viper will hit the market in late 2012 — without the Dodge badge.
The new Viper "will be an SRT-branded vehicle," Chrysler spokesman Dan Reid told Inside Line in a phone conversation late Tuesday. "With SRT being its own stand-alone brand, this will be the halo car for SRT."
SRT is Chrysler's Street and Racing Technology sub-brand.
Reid also told Inside Line that the production 2013 Viper will debut next spring at the 2012 New York Auto Show and, contrary to earlier media speculation, it will share no parts with Maserati or Ferrari. The new Viper, Reid added, "is a totally separate car — no parts sharing" with the two Fiat Group premium sports-car brands.
Engine specs on the 2013 SRT Viper will be released in April, Reid said.
The timetable for Viper production was released earlier Tuesday, along with an announcement that the automaker is reopening its Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit to build the new Viper. The Conner plant reopening will bring 150 jobs to the Motor City, Chrysler said in a statement.
"The next-generation Viper will make its return to the product lineup in late 2012 as a 2013 model," said Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of Chrysler's SRT Brand and Motorsports. "We're extremely excited that our ultimate American sports car will continue to live on and be produced exclusively here in the Motor City."
There is no Viper for 2012.
Chrysler noted in a statement that during the initial 1995-2010 Viper production run at Conner, employees hand-built 22,070 Vipers.
Inside Line says: We get a due date for the Viper, but little else at this point.
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aerocoupe says:
10:30 AM, 01/30/2012
You have to own and drive a Viper to Understand. ArmChair critics have no idea!!!
bengal3200 says:
07:42 AM, 12/29/2011
@zr1man...
Naturally aspired v. Supercharged isn't really fair. And they are about $20,000 different in price.
zr1man says:
08:36 PM, 12/17/2011
Dodge or SRT, makes no difference, the ZR1 will blow it's doors off. Bring it on baby, bring it on!
Chevy Runs Deep.
mklrivowner says:
12:55 PM, 12/15/2011
+1 @bengal3200
It's not quite so simple because it's not based on the number of makes and their types in your lineup, but some weighted average based on production volume, type of drivetrain, and purpose of the vehicle (truck, passenger, cargo, suv, hpv, ect.).
This is really just an attempt to ease the impacts of Cafe. But it doubles as a poorly thought out marketing ploy to bring attention back to the Viper and Mopar. Like others have mentioned, the general public isn't so dumb to see an 'SRT Viper' and think it's a completely different entity than the 'Dodge Viper'. But, for what it's worth, those inclined to drop cash on a car like this are more interested in "shiny baubles" than brand history, so they drive by a lot selling an 'SRT Viper' and buy it because it's "new" and no one in their 3-story neighborhood has an 'SRT' yet. Not to mention easing the buyer's remorse of anyone who bought a "final-year" edition of the "Dodge" Viper (not to be confused with the "SRT" Viper).
duck87 says:
08:25 AM, 12/14/2011
This "branding" exercise is a bit different from what GM used to do. It used to be actual "badge engineering" as you'd find the same car, with different bumpers, in each of the different brands, but that's not what's going on with this Viper.
I think it's fairly obvious that "SRT" is to Chrysler Group as "AMG" is to Mercedes Benz. the RAM brand is exclusively for trucks, dodge is the mainstream brand and Chrysler is upscale. FIAT is FIAT.
But beyond that, what difference does it make? It's a Viper.
joe_scuba says:
08:04 AM, 12/14/2011
I wonder what Fiat they will use for this one???
bengal3200 says:
07:38 AM, 12/14/2011
Well, Chrysler will probably eventually move all the SRT vehicles into that SRT brand. So one day instead of having a Dodge Charger SRT8 and a Chrysler 300 SRT8, they'll just have an SRT Charger, SRT 300, SRT Dart (hopefully!), etc.
I think all this brand rearrangement is more paperwork and loopholes more than anything else. I think it has to do with the new CAFE regulations that are coming out. It's easier for a "brand" to meet it's average MPG goal if all the cars are the same. I think the way it works is that a "brand" is given an average goal to meet based on all the cars in the fleet.
If they are trucks (RAM) then the average is like 20 or whatever, which is easier to meet. Or if they are all HPV, like the SRT brand, then it maybe be even lower. However, if it's a full line brand, like 2010 Dodge with mostly cars, but a few trucks and a few HPVs, then the average is higher like 30. So if your "Viper" is getting only 15MPG, then you need a "Caliber" that gets 45 to average it out. Since that's tough to do, you split the Viper into it's own brand. Problem solved, right?
wikiwiki says:
07:31 AM, 12/14/2011
Wow. Trying to make the public forget everything Dodge. Such a proud heritage. LOL!!!!
deanoflas says:
07:03 AM, 12/14/2011
I think you guys are misunderstanding...the concept isn't to fool anyone that this isn't a Dodge, simply to brand it, give it a marque, of some exclusivity and to further promote what Dodge/Chrysler plan to do with the SRT team. Of the Corvette comparison, one of the things that draws so many away from the Corvette is the fact that the general GM parts bin can be found all over the car...no that the SRT marque would cure any of those ills, but it takes that one step forward to distinguish the supercar from the common car. We've got to realize, supercar buyers care a LOT about the marque the car wears. European family and 'common' car automakers don't produce 600hp supercars....could you imagine the guys at VW naming it the Volkswagen Veyron SS... heck, they had to wipe their hands clean of even the Phaeton here in the US. Its not about being any less Dodge, its simply about being more Viper.
paulvincent1 says:
04:44 AM, 12/14/2011
"Is a Corvette any less respected because it wears a Chevrolet label?" Yes. It's status has been and continues to be diminished by the rest of Chevy's offerings. "It's just another Chevy."