I am wondering what will happen if the sell less then half of what they have sold of the 300s? What if they only sell 50k Chargers? Would they do a redesign a coupe years after intro?

 

I honestly imagine that they would just axe the Charger altogether if it was that big of a flop. Because once a car start on a downhill slide it's really hard to pull it out of the ditch and just the name even on an improved product makes it hard to sell.

 

I can't imagine a coupe would add the sales they are looking for, anyways. They need a sedan for mainstream buyers. If you look at it as a more exciting (with Hemi) alternative to an Impala or import, it's worthwhile. I'm not sure that it'll bring in buyers who weren't already shopping for sedan (or car altogether) the way the 300 has. But I don't think it needs to match the 300's sales to be considered a success. I imagine they'll stick with the name regardless and continue to shape the car to meet buyer's needs (just as GM is doing with the GTO).

 

If the Charger fails, expect Chrysler to quickly redesign the car.
If Chrysler HAS to drop the Charger due to poor sales, that's bad.
Very very Bad.

The Chrysler 300's success has GM emboldened that Zeta is going to be a success, and there's probally alot of "I-told-you-sos" going around to the leftovers of GM's old guard that saw cars as FWD appliences. It's also likely providing ammunition as Ford decides whether or not to use a version of the FWD FiveHundred or the RWD D2C chassis for their Panther replacements.

If the Charger fails, the 300 will be seen as a fluke, since the Charger will be the only RWD "Bread & Butter" car on the market. Carmakers have limited funds, and put their money only whare it's going to do the most good. That means you can kiss any hope of future RWD coupes at Chrysler good bye.

I'd say that if Charger fails, Ford's CV replacement will be a bigger FWD-AWD FiveHundred, GM will camsel plans of extending RWD to their mid-sized cars (the 1st Zetas will be Full Size & Performance cars).

IMO, Charger is going to sell very well, but not 300 well. It's design, though nice, isn't as much of a change in proportions and looks the 300 & Magnum are. Keep in mind, Charger is more of a family & fleet car, as opposed to the 300's flamboyance and the Magnum's utility.

But no matter how much you hate the Charger, or that Chrysler used the Charger name on a sedan, the absolute, final, last-thing-in-the-world thing you want to happen is for the Charger to become a flop in the marketplace.

It would kill RWD outside of luxury cars

 

if it is a flop, you wonder if they just get it through their heads that people don't like truck grilles on cars
the way you're talking guy, it seems like they relate a car's failure(s) to something totally un-related- i.e. rwd
jmho

 

I personally think that a lot of the 300's and magnum's success is due to their hemi campaigning. I think that is going to have to save the Charger because (personally) i think it is one of the ugliest cars to come out recently. if the prices is right it will be one more saving grace for this car because, frankly, if the 300 wasnt so unbelievaly low priced it would not hav had near as much success as it did.

 

I disagree. Although I do think that the whole "Hemi" marketing strategy is annoying and catchy, I think the Magnum and 300 would do just fine by itself. I want both cars equally as bad, whether is be the Hemi or V6.

 

as much as I try to like the charger,I just cant get thrilled by the looks.I find the magnum more appealing.I saw a pic of a magnum with a viper-type hood and racing stripes and thought WOW,thats really cool.

 

Thats a little over-the-top IMHO. Maybe I'm naive, but I really don't think the Charger will have that big of an impact. If it fails, it will because of its crappy design and I do hope it will get restyled. Charger has a lot of equity though and will rank pretty high on the bad-***-o-meter with a lot of people. I hope dads have a little more power against the moms in purchasing decisions than they used to though

 

Its not going to fail. There are a lot of dodge loyalists and this is thier sedan. Even if the V8 version fails, the v6 will sell. This car is also meant to get Chrysler back into the rent a car shops. The 300 has too much of a high class image and the rental places are not ordering them

 

I really don't understand all the complaints about the Charger. They mostly seem to center on 2 doors versus 4 doors. And of course, they're all made by people living in the past with no money at stake. They ignore the fact that two door cars just haven't been selling, especially large two doors. The ElDorado, Riviera, Lincoln Mark 8, Thunderbird, large Cougar, Grand Prix, and more, have all disappeared in the last 10 years, and it wasn't because companies were making money on them.

Smaller two doors do somewhat better, but even they suffer large dropoffs in sales after just a year to two on the market (take a look at Celica and Eclipse sales). A few cars defy these results (Mustang, Monte Carlo), but even then I believe the Impala far outsells the Monte Carlo.

People who do want to see a RWD two door Dodge or Chrysler are not doing themselves any favors by harping on the Charger. If it does not do well, that does not improve the chances of a two door model.

Fine, some don't like the styling. For most modern cars, you can find people who will complain. I know people who don't like the new Cadillacs (too angular or slab sided) or the Infinitis or the GTO (too ordinary looking) or the newer BMWs (too Bangle). Whatever. Don't buy it.

But all the whining over the GTO and the Charger is really counterproductive and stupid, unless you want to hurt the revival of RWD V8 cars.

Note that not all criticism is whining, and I'm not implying such.

Personally, I don't really care for the Charger styling, but I like it better than the 300 or the Magnum. I like the GTO best of all, but would prefer it if it had four doors (ever tried to get in the back seat of the new GTO?), and I don't care whether the GTOs of the late 60s all had two doors. However, given the rabidity of some GTO fans, if Pontiac asked me, I'd recommend in favor of G8 or something similarly innocuous for a four door GTO. Or perhaps Commodore or Omega or some other GM family name that won't upset people.

 

Hey I'm just stating my opinion on the car. I don't WANT it to fail but it wouldn't surprise me if it did and I'm sure as hell not going to say I like the looks of a car if I think it looks like a turd on wheels just because it's got a V8 and RWD.
People just settling for what the big three tossed up against the wall without being very vocal and very clear about how they didn't like it is what got us in this mess in the first place.

If it does fail I do not think DCx or anybody else would say "Oh it failed because it was RWD.". They more likely would look at what the common theme of why people are bagging on it and it's the styling not the 4 doors.
A lot of people simply do not like the way the thing looks 4 doors be damned as a lot of people had no issues with the 4 door 99 concept. If it DOES flop I think the car makers likely will look at the Magnum and the 300 and leverage that with the failure of the Charger and realize what the problem is and will take steps to make sure they don't fall into the same trap.

So no I don't wish for the Charger to fail. But I do not think it will be a smashing success(numbers in the long run might be on the Intrepid level) and I think Ford and GM will both put out good LOOKING RWD V8 vehicles.

 

Fair enough. I wasn't accusing you, btw, of whining. I prefer the Dodge styling to the 300 and Magnum styling. I guess the market will decide who speaks for the majority.

I haven't heard encouraging rumors from Ford, except in Australia, on RWD. But it could just be that they're several years away, and they have to sell the 500 in the meantime.

 

My only complaint is the styling. They went from the absolutely drop dead gorgeous '99 to the back alley beat-up looking thing that they have now. I like the idea, but they should have stuck with the swoopy '99 concept more. Its like being promised Jessica Simpson to strip for your bachelor party but instead getting Ashley Simpson.

 

How bad do you think it would have to do for DC to restyle the car? If this car does bad, could it spell the end for Creed?

I think the failure on this car is the styling. Not so much with the nose, but with the quarter panels. They just don't flow with the rest of the car.