This must be depressing for the Chrysler/SRT/Fiat execs. Although, it makes me want to say screw it and buy one. Has something this drastic been done before? Thoughts?:

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...15000-official

"Dodge has just announced a round of updates for its 2015 Viper SRT but the updates alone aren’t likely to see the sales performance of the all-American supercar change for the better. Yes, the latest Viper hasn’t exactly been racing off dealer lots, with more than 600 examples said to be unsold—a massive 434-day supply—but Dodge has a solution.

Dodge will offer the 2015 Viper SRT from just $84,995 (not including destination and gas guzzler tax), a massive $15,000 discount from the previous model year. Adjusting for inflation, that makes the 2015 Viper priced competitively to the first generation car launched in 1992, as calculated by Kelley Blue Book. The original Viper was introduced in 1992 with a starting price of $50,700, and adjusted for inflation that equates to about $86,130 today.

All unsold cars from previous model years will also feature the same discount, effective immediately. Dodge says it will be repositioning every Viper model with a lower starting price but is yet to reveal details for these.

Right now you’re probably thinking that’s some hefty depreciation for existing owners, but Dodge has a surprise for these loyal fans. Anyone that already bought the latest Viper, which was all new for 2013, will be given a $15,000 certificate towards a new Viper—whether they trade in their existing car or purchase a new Viper outright. This $15,000 certificate is in addition to the $15,000 price reduction!

That’s not all, as all Dodge dealers will finally be allowed to sell the Viper; this ties in with the Viper being returned to its Dodge roots instead of being marketed as a product of SRT.

"It's not that I'm lowering the price $15,000; it's a psychological thing to put you back into the realm of being an accessible car at a price point that I think is right for the car," Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis explains. It is "the same price it was seven years ago, when we were selling two and a half times as many."

Sales of the 2015 Dodge Viper SRT commence this month. The big news for 2015, apart from the huge discount, is that Dodge is introducing a new Viper GT trim that will be priced close to the base Viper but offer the most popular items from the pricey Viper GTS. An enhanced Viper Time Attack model is also being offered for 2015 and all Vipers receive 5 extra horsepower for the latest model year.

Last month, Dodge sold just 38 Vipers nationwide, a figure that’s down 38 percent from a year ago. We wonder how much success Dodge will have once the cheaper and more powerful 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 rolls in..."

 

wow, really hope this helps. never been a huge viper fan, although it's improved massively from the early ones.

 

Glad reality hit them. This is where it should've been priced all along. They won't be able to pull this car any further upmarket until it has an automatic transmission, a more comfortable interior, and performance that can match the C7 Z06.

 

Dodge already killed the car by offering the upcoming 700hp Challenger. Bigger buzz, more passenger space, a truck, more tech and $15k cheaper EVEN AFTER the $15k discount on the Viper. Don't worry Chrysler Group, you've still got a few toes left to shoot off.

 

By 15k cheaper I think you mean 25k cheaper. Crazy, huh? The Viper, however, will destroy the Challenger in nearly every measurable performance category. Can't wait to see how the Z06 stacks up. It looks unreal.

Agreed. Price jump was crazy. Maybe the same will happen to the GT-R, although I highly doubt it.

 

Still, it has a history of being one of the most unreliable American-nameplate cars on the market. And the 15K price drop shows that it was also overpriced.

 

As do Range Rovers have the same reputation on reliability, but the RR owners don't really have reliability as a criteria. I think the same is true for prospective Viper owners.

Yeah, crazy to see them balk on their price. Makes me

Can you imagine Lexus doing something like that??? Lol. Don't think so.

 

This is great for the consumer!

Dodge did this to themselves when they built the Hellcat based on it's price/hp ratio. Either had to lower the price of the Viper or increase the power. Ferrari F12 isn't having any of the latter so here we are some $15,000 less

 

C7 Corvette still a much better buy even if Viper takes another 10K off the MSRP.

 

True but the Vette is a dime a dozen in terms of rarity vs the Viper

 

i'm sure dodge would like to have chevy's 'problem' there.

 

Much better is quite the exaggeration, plus the Viper is more rare. The car actually does having some things going for it you know.

I highly doubt reliability was one of the concerns when someone was looking at a Viper.

 

haha. americans are dumb. but not THAT dumb.

 

I think Dodge also pissed off a bunch of the loyal Viper guys with the new model's pricing. The guys who bought the 2nd gen cars back about 3 to 7 years ago paid less than 100k. They go look at maybe trading up to the new car, well damn they increased the price by $40,000. No thanks, I'll keep my existing car. Its not like these are daily drivers getting worn out and needing to be replaced, all Vipers are garage queens with low miles.

Also another factor in addition to price is that Viper guys drive their cars HARD on the track and love to modify them. No point in spending $130k on a brand new car with a warranty if you're just going to go void it by racing it and modifying it.

 

Great to see Chrysler stumbling down the road with this one. Hopefully, they will cancel the Viper after this year.

What I am afraid of with the Hellcat is a bunch of nice clean cut kids from good families buying these and then getting hurt or worse when they lose control of the beast and hit made to last things like trees.