Ive talked to a few people about the future of the viper...so i put together an article on the topic.

http://www.examiner.com/x-8811-Detro...on-Dodge-Viper

 

I think they might scrap the viper if not knock it down to A smaller compact v8 much like a european exotic. Do you really think ferrari might do performance work with viper? If anything, they ought to just separate the Viper into a brand like Ram. Much of dodge's line-up for several years was taken from the looks of the original viper anyways. It should be a brand in my opinion if they do drop it down to a v8 powered exotic...IMO and then roll out the new name for example the VIPER g60 or sumthin like that. Dont want to offend anybody with the example just giving an opinion for the benefit of a leftfield change of the traditional viper. Personally I feel as tho they could leave it alone and just change the style up a bit.

If ferrari did work with fiat/chrysler I think it would be cool...but the only history of working with other companies was italian coachcar manufacturers like Pinafarina. If they did something with an american company that would be unheard of but if it was under the strings of FIAT i guess its possible.

Whatever Ferrari powerplant would land under a viper or a new chrysler supercar I'm sure it would be appreciated by all the Viper opposing population that you seem to have on every FORUM, AutoBlog, and Auto Enthusiast Magazine on the Planet.I mean Chrysler did have a stint with Maserati in the late 80s early 90s so perhaps it would be a Maserati powerplant instead of ferrari...Doesnt get much more Luxuri then a maserati build...but I think that should be reserved for a chrysler badge anyways, not so much a dodge.

 

Ralph Gilles is saying that Viper will "go dark" for a short period, probably to unload leftovers, and then a "new" 2012 Viper will be introduced. When? I'm guessing late 2011 as to not slow sales of leftovers. What powerplant? I really don't see them going away from the V/10 since this keeps them in "exotic" car territory which keeps it cool with the only moderately rich crowd. I look for a facelift, more refining (creature comforts) and possibly more horsepower as being about it. Dodge being on their own now doesn't have a lot of money to play around with and can't take big chances with their "image" dream car.

 

the thing is, whenever dodge has done anything with any of their big name vehicles, they have never waited until the last minute. what you are suggesting is that in late 2011 they would introduce the 2012 viper but we have to consider how cars are debuted. they come out at either the LA, Detroit, Chicago or new york...LA is in december, but i cant imagine them debuting a 2012 model less than a month before the MY begins. on the other hand, if they used the 2011 Detroit (january) or chicago (feb) show to launch the viper, that would give them almost a full year to hype the car up before it hits the sales point late in 2011.

 

Hell idk what their marketing strategy is. It's always been pretty much hit and miss as far as my opinion is concerned. Some things they seem to promote well. The Charger is one example. As far as most though you hardly see any info on them. Look at the Challenger intro. What intro? They bring back an Icon in the industry and VERY little marketing done to hype it. The damned Caliber received a large chunk of marketing budget for a lackluster product in a flooded segment imo. The Journey is getting some push as it should because it's a good product in a large segment of today's market. Another vehicle which I thought could hold promise was the Nitro which they did some extensive promotion on but the commercials were like watching someone's acid trip about a vehicle, just freaky.

I think they know that the enthusiasts interested in the Viper are very knowledgable about the car and not much promo is needed. Gilles' comments were made in an interview with Autoline Detroit which I think there is a link to on Dodge Challenger forums. He does not get very specific about the time frame concerning the Viper but does mention how putting the Viper brand on the block hurt further development on the new model and that there is going to be a period where the Viper name goes dark (no promotion I think is the translation) before the new model introduction for 2012.

For those enthusiasts not rabid about the Viper this could be a good strategy. The name goes away for awhile, everything becomes quiet and then all of a sudden, boom! A new exciting Viper to drool over and lust for.

Your guess is as good as mine and that's just what we are doing because of Dodge's past marketing or lack there of.

http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/show/1404/extra

 

I personally feel that Dodge misses out in one area with the Viper. Here in the U.S. the main competition is probably the Corvette. The Vette has several differant horse power configurations. A lower horse power starting point. More affordable for the average guy. I think that there should be a Viper produced to compete directly against this level of Corvette. Dodge is leaving Corvette have this market all to it's self.

 

the viper and corvette models are in different markets...until they came out with the ZR1, they chevy didnt have a corvette that would compete with the viper. for years of the vipers existence there was no real competition in this country. ford tried with the GT supercar but that didnt prove out to be much of a challenge.

deranged, you bring up an interesting point about the challengers release marketing. i think that dodge didnt roll out the challenger in grand form like, for instance, ford did with the 2011 mustang gt because they debuted the challenger a few years earlier. there was SO MUCH enthusiast created hype for those two years leading up to the actual launch of the car that dodge didnt seem to do much on their own. every mopar magazine had the challenger on the cover...every website had stories about it, etc. the same is true of the new mustang, but the hype over the new mustang and 5.0 is driven by ford, where dodge left that up to forums and mopar fans.

for the viper, sergio marchinonne (sp?) commented a while back that this was the "last generation of the current viper" and after fiat took the reigns they commented that dodge "needed' the viper.

 

Yeah i'd agree Dodge does need the Viper...It was the exotic competition and styling cues of the viper that helped the dodge line-up in sales for the 90s. 1995-2000 was probably the best vehicle line-up in my opinion. In terms of sales they really should look into building something like that again. Dodge was holding on in the 2001-2005 but really lost it by ditching out on the compact and fuel efficient scene.

Also since fiat has a bunch of secret vehicles and newer designs for the next run of Chrysler and Dodge Models with Little known about them...it makes a person wonder whats in store for the VIPER. Just them being quiet about it with a market launch for 2011 is makin me wonder whats taking so long.

Do you think their decisions on the VIPER may have something to do with Shareholder Investment? Chrysler no longer shares in public trading. Perhaps they plan a full scale comeback with shareholder interest and with that they might unveil the new VIPER. Under the terms of Bankruptcy I think chrysler stock is held in the Interest of FIAT but if we were to mount a comeback I think the local trading would be smart.

 

Maybe this is where a Hemi Viper would be suited? I think you are onto something here. An entry level halo vehicle in the $50000-60000 range. hmmmmmmmmm...........

 

I personally think 3 new vehicles need to be created. Three different names. Four different engines.

V6 4.0 R/T coupe (20K-25K)
V8 5.7 R/T coupe (26K-35K)
V8 6.1 SRT-8 coupe with an ACR version sporting the 6.4. (35K-60K)

My dream...