Challenger, Charger Production Stopped Over Chip Shortage
Challenger, Charger, Ram Classic and several others have paused production through most of April.
There is currently a global microchip shortage that is hammering the automotive industry and the latest victims are the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Ram 1500 Classic and several other strong-selling vehicles from the corporate lineup. Last week, it was announced that five Stellantis vehicle assembly plants across the United States, Canada and Mexico would be halting production until sometime near the end of April as the company scrambles to find the components needed to build these vehicles. This is bad news for more than 18,000 workers across those five facilities, but it is even worse news for dealerships that are already dealing with lower-than-desired stock levels of some of these key models.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Stellantis spokesperson Todi Tinson said that “[the company] continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry.” That really doesn’t tell us much about what the company is doing to address this microchip shortage, but with the problem having a massive impact across the auto industry at a global level, there isn’t much that any company can do to quickly get back to production.
Challenger and Charger Production Delays
There are five Stellantis assembly facilities which are stopping production until later in April, beginning with the Brampton plant in Canada. That is where the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 are built and with Dodge dealerships already wrestling with a shortage of the high performance rear-wheel-drive vehicles, this unplanned downtime is going to come as a painful blow.
The Chrysler brand isn’t hit as hard by the stoppage in Brampton, but the next facility on the list is the Windsor plant where the Pacifica minivans are built. The Chrysler brand is comprised of the 300 and the Pacifica, so with both taking a break from production, there will be obvious issues there.
As we get into the United States, the Warren Truck plant and the Belvidere plant have both halted production until later this month due to the chip shortage. At the Warren plant, this impacts the Ram 1500 Classic while the Belvidere plant is responsible for the Jeep Cherokee. The Ram Classic isn’t all that popular, so this isn’t much of an issue for the Ram brand, but the Cherokee is one of Jeep’s bestselling models.
Complicating things for the Jeep brand is the final plant on the list, Toluca Assembly in Mexico. Toluca builds the Compass, which is another of the brand’s top sellers.
Good News for Current Owners
Dealerships around North America have been short on inventory for the Dodge Challenger and Charger since the middle of 2020. That is bad news for anyone looking to buy one, as low inventory leads to less wiggle room on the pricing. It is also bad news for anyone looking to order a custom car, as the wait is likely to be extensive at this point.
On the other hand, this is good news for everyone who owns a relatively new Dodge Challenger or Charger. When inventory levels dropped last year, dealerships began paying top dollar for used cars in order to replenish their used car inventory. They cant get new cars, but they can get used cars buy paying good money for them.
They then sell them for higher amounts, so between dealers buying high and selling higher, the used value of Challengers and Chargers – especially in Hellcat form – has been very high for close to a year now. With this latest news, used Challenger and Charger values are likely to remain high.
In short, this isn’t a great time to buy a Dodge Challenger or Charger if you are looking to score a deal, but it is a great time to sell if you already own one.
Photos: Dodge/Stellantis
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