The Cruel Irony: Chrysler has no problem selling all of its most expensive car

[HeilSvenska]

Dodge Viper ACR sold out? Well, it is a good car.

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Go figure: Amid the worst auto-sales market in decades, Chrysler's hottest-selling vehicle is its most expensive. The ACR version of the Dodge Viper SRT10 sports car, for example, is basically "sold out," Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said on Monday. But it's exactly the sorry economy and investment environment, Press said, that is goosing Viper sales. Individual, hand-built Vipers have emerged as a target of an increasing number of investors. "Those customers are in a high-income group, and [a Viper] is a safe haven," he said. "Look at what's happened in their stock portfolios: The resale value of Vipers shows they're still in great demand. Smart investors figure out it's a safe place to put their money — and also have a lot of fun." In general, Chrysler keeps selling about 100 Vipers a month, including in October, when overall industry sales were down by 32 percent and Chrysler's corporate-wide sales declined by about the same amount, compared with last October. Introduced earlier this year, the ACR — it stands for American Club Racer — version of the car has "met expectations in production," Chrysler spokesman Nick Cappa said, by way of illuminating Press' "sold-out" characterization. "Dealers still have them, and they are available." The ACR version is a souped-up Viper that retails for a suggested price of about $105,000, compared with the Viper's base suggested price of about $85,000. It boasts reduced weight compared with the standard SRT10, "race-ready hardware" and "competition tuning." Its equipment package includes an altered, high-performance suspension; lighter wheels; and a front splitter and rear wing that produce 1,000 pounds of downforce at 100 mph. "The idea," Cappa said, "was to build a vehicle that's as close to a racecar as possible but still street-legal." He noted that, among other things, the Viper SRT10 ACR version has grabbed the street-legal speed record at Germany's Nürburgring testing ground. Meanwhile, talks continue between Chrysler and at least one interested party of investors about purchasing the Viper vehicles, brand and assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan, whole from the troubled automaker. Sources said that Chrysler is largely optimistic about working a deal and that the fate of the relatively healthy model is likely to be decoupled from Chrysler even in the event of a Chrysler merger with General Motors. "The potential for an investor" in the Viper operation "is ongoing," said Stuart Schorr, Chrysler's senior manager for sales communications. "There are still quite a few people interested."

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