G5 sales update info

[F2V]

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/g...w-viper-sales/

[docwviper]

Gilles is optimistic. I'm one of the ones who bought mine in the winter

[Nine Ball]

Denial much? If the item was hot, people would buy what was readily available, too. Agreed that the cars should be 100% customizable, including ALL color combos and stripes. Get rid of the SRT and GTS packages, make everything an option.

[Thawk97]

Hopefully the positive spin really IS how SRT feels. That'd be encouraging to know the Viper isn't near death. And, hopefully they DO continue to learn how to serve the market and more people end up ordering.

[Newport Viper]

I'm just bummed for all that have put their time and life into the current version not to yet reap the rewards. Hopefully things will turn. I really don't want to see it go away. You should have seen how mobbed the Vette was at the LA autoshow. The Viper needed one more evolution before it went retro with the Gen V.

[ViperSmith]

Denial much? If the item was hot, people would buy what was readily available, too. Agreed that the cars should be 100% customizable, including ALL color combos and stripes. Get rid of the SRT and GTS packages, make everything an option.

Well, could be signs internally that Chrysler isn't too upset so far... I'd hope.

I think with the SRT driving program for the Viper they are figuring it out. We shall see.

I think the launch would have been 10x better if we all got our cars first, instead of ones sitting on dealer lots. SRT screwed the pooch there.

I'd love to know how many orders were canceled.

[ViperGeorge]

There was thread about what would it take for you to buy a Gen 5. I see a couple of issues that SRT has not yet addressed.

1) Price is high, I understand SRT increased their margins on the car and dealers are still trying to sell the car at or over sticker. Dealers may be thinking well I only have one of these things so why not ask for the moon. They may fail to realize their are hundreds out there.

2) SRT authorized dealers do not even list SRT as a brand on their website. Vipers are, if listed, tagged as Dodges. If you find one on a dealer website, print the window sticker, it still says Dodge.

3) Viper buyers want what they want as Ralph says. Problem is how on Earth do you find it? Many of us would buy a car we want from across the country but trying to find it via the dealer websites is near impossible. drivesrt.com should allow you to build the car and then tell you if any dealer in the country has it or not. Sure the stupid manufacturer websites allow you to build vehicles and then locate them. Did you ever try it? Build a Grand Cherokee in a specific color, with specific options, with specific engine and then say "find my vehicle". They take you to a local dealer's site that has Grand Cherokees but not anything like the one you built. Often they don't even have the color or trim level you specified. WTF is the point of building a vehicle if they actually won't find it for you? Stupid. SRT should fix this on their website. Want a white GTS with dual black stripes and upgraded stereo? Ok, that car is at xyz dealer in Florida. Simple.

4) Not enough horsepower to claim bragging rights. My 2013 Shelby has more. Bump it I say.

5) Bad marketing was evident when they sent cars for magazine testing that weren't even aligned properly. Seriously, they couldn't have checked the alignment?

6) Tell dealers that if they charge above sticker they will be dropped from the SRT dealer network. I recently looked at an SRT8 Jeep at a local dealer. They wanted something like $20K over sticker.

But I still want one.

[KRATEDISEASE]

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/g...w-viper-sales/

More complete article is here http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-te...ysler-s-lineup

Chrysler has built about 800 ’13 Vipers .Gilles says there are about 500 cars in stock, waiting for buyers.

Through October, Chrysler sold 495 Vipers

[Martin]

I think Ralph is completely right about the buyer wanting what they want. The problem is that when you give people too many options, you give them too many chances to find something that they don't like or don't want to pay for. Lots of options is fantastic when your whole business model is around building cars to order - it gives the buyer the impression that they're customizing a car for themselves. But, if you give dealers the responsibility of trying to figure out what their customers want, and you've given them a lot of options to make a mistake, you're going to end up with unsold cars... I look at a ton of cars available out there on the lots, and I think "if it only had the Matte Black Sidewinders on it", or "if they only didn't spend thousands for a stupid headliner that I don't need" or, "WTF, how many thousands of dollars does it cost to put stripes on it, and why did they pick that color?".

What they did with the original Gen I and II cars was perfect - don't give people too many options, and don't give the dealers too many choices to make. The cars were what they were, and it was nearly impossible to keep them in stock. Now, if they did an "order only" policy today, the massive number of options might have been perfect - but like was said above, the pre-ordered cars were the last to be built, and the dealer-ordered cars ended up sitting on the dealership floors...

I think we'll see a totally different marketplace with the TA models that are coming out. Simple decision - choose one of three cool colors (and even that has people in analysis paralysis sometimes). Those won't sit on dealer lots too long.

[BlknBlu]

2014 should be a much better year for the Viper. So many things went wrong with the car and the buying experience. those problems look to have been sorted out.

Long Live the Viper

Bruce

[Policy Limits]

The 14 is the same car as the 13 so how someone could love the former & hate the latter is beyond me. Cutting production 30% speaks volumes though. The people who want to buy can't afford it and the people with the coin don't want it. Then there's me & 400 others who bought sight unseen. Time will tell if this gen continues. I want to see a vert & ACR personally and hope things improve

[ViperSmith]

The 14 is the same car as the 13 so how someone could love the former & hate the latter is beyond me. Cutting production 30% speaks volumes though. The people who want to buy can't afford it and the people with the coin don't want it. Then there's me & 400 others who bought sight unseen. Time will tell if this gen continues. I want to see a vert & ACR personally and hope things improve

I think they will. We own the best kept secret in cars at the moment. I've let people drive it that are in the market and they want one bad.

The SRT driving experience they are doing in the south seems to be garnering a lot of interest as well. I think 2014 will be a great year for the car. The TA is getting good press and they are getting their act together.

[jkviper]

I think the launch itself was so well done. The way Ralph introduced the car in NYC and via the internet. The technical presentation along with a very nice charity event, and the total surprise of going racing with the Gen V. The launch was so much better than the lame intro that the vette had at the auto show. Not even close.

Unfortunately a number of things were not well executed on from there by SRT where Chevy just nailed it for their market.

I'm still on the fence with what I will buy next. I sold my 2006 Viper Coupe in anticipation of getting something new at some point. Would probably prefer a Viper GTS with all the options, but just don't see the value along with the price. Waiting to see the Z06/ZR1 announcement in January or at least that is the rumor and then figure it out.

Could also just get a fully loaded C7 at about 70K, put an E-force Supercharger on it for about 600 horse and have something very similar to a Viper GTS for about 35-45K less. Not bashing the Viper at all, but I think I am or was the typical Viper buyer and SRT has not made the decision easy.

[ViperSmith]

I think the launch itself was so well done. The way Ralph introduced the car in NYC and via the internet. The technical presentation along with a very nice charity event, and the total surprise of going racing with the Gen V. The launch was so much better than the lame intro that the vette had at the auto show. Not even close.

Unfortunately a number of things were not well executed on from there by SRT where Chevy just nailed it for their market.

I'm still on the fence with what I will buy next. I sold my 2006 Viper Coupe in anticipation of getting something new at some point. Would probably prefer a Viper GTS with all the options, but just don't see the value along with the price. Waiting to see the Z06/ZR1 announcement in January or at least that is the rumor and then figure it out.

Could also just get a fully loaded C7 at about 70K, put an E-force Supercharger on it for about 600 horse and have something very similar to a Viper GTS for about 35-45K less. Not bashing the Viper at all, but I think I am or was the typical Viper buyer and SRT has not made the decision easy.

I'ld keep your eye open, I think you'll be able to steal one if you are in the market next year.

[theviper]

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/g...w-viper-sales/

I was shocked when I read the article. It's so sad to see that Ralph, who we all thought was brilliant, saying things that are just crazy.

Does he seriously thinks that cars sitting on lots is a good thing?
Does he not get that dealer's floorplan expires and they are stuck with paperweights?
Does he seriously think that it is all the dealer's fault?
He failed to mention that his company ignored customer orders in favor for dealer orders. He also failed to mention that many Vipers for sale were priced below $130K-$140K.
Does he seriously think everything is fine now that they have 200 orders total?

Maybe he is just trying to paint a rosy picture as part of some new marketing campaign. But I'm afraid he drank too much of his own kool-aid. Everything is not perfect and cars sitting on dealer lots is not "sexy"!! As much as I don't like Chevy, they would never put out a release like this. This is not good for Viper unfortunately.

[slitherv10]

I was shocked when I read the article. It's so sad to see that Ralph, who we all thought was brilliant, saying things that are just crazy.

Does he seriously thinks that cars sitting on lots is a good thing?
Does he not get that dealer's floorplan expires and they are stuck with paperweights?
Does he seriously think that it is all the dealer's fault?
He failed to mention that his company ignored customer orders in favor for dealer orders. He also failed to mention that many Vipers for sale were priced below $130K-$140K.
Does he seriously think everything is fine now that they have 200 orders total?

Maybe he is just trying to paint a rosy picture as part of some new marketing campaign. But I'm afraid he drank too much of his own kool-aid. Everything is not perfect and cars sitting on dealer lots is not "sexy"!! As much as I don't like Chevy, they would never put out a release like this. This is not good for Viper unfortunately.

Why do I hate to agree with you ?

[KRATEDISEASE]

I was shocked when I read the article. It's so sad to see that Ralph, who we all thought was brilliant, saying things that are just crazy.

Does he seriously thinks that cars sitting on lots is a good thing?
Does he not get that dealer's floorplan expires and they are stuck with paperweights?
Does he seriously think that it is all the dealer's fault?
He failed to mention that his company ignored customer orders in favor for dealer orders. He also failed to mention that many Vipers for sale were priced below $130K-$140K.
Does he seriously think everything is fine now that they have 200 orders total?

Maybe he is just trying to paint a rosy picture as part of some new marketing campaign. But I'm afraid he drank too much of his own kool-aid. Everything is not perfect and cars sitting on dealer lots is not "sexy"!! As much as I don't like Chevy, they would never put out a release like this. This is not good for Viper unfortunately.

Yes, I also agree. his response/answers were horrible, almost embarrassing . Sorry to say it.

To say its sexy to have a Viper sit in dealer showrooms ?

Its OK to put a positive spin, that is expected. But he seems to have put his foot in his mouth.

I would have just said that production was reduced due to supplier issues. Just lie and say that a supplier had difficulty suppling a key component so production had to be reduced until the suppler issues come back in line. And if asked about the unsold cars, just say that there were dealer issues where cars were released to dealers incorrectly that did not have the proper customer demographics that other dealers with the high demographic demand and waiting lists were unfortunately not given enough cars. Blame that on an outside marketing company. Then state that for 2014 those issues have been resolved and production and demand should ramp up and be back on track in 2014. Then say that customer demand/backlog is actually quite pent up but you are having difficulty reorganizing the new dealer network and are now getting cars to dealers with pent up demand.

[Viktimize]

I'ld keep your eye open, I think you'll be able to steal one if you are in the market next year.

This is what I'm wondering about, is if I will be able to steal a 2013 left on the lot once the 2014 is in production. I see dealers are already giving away the Viper for invoice because of slow sales.

[RedTanRT/10]

Ralph, You started with a ton of sold orders and couldn't produce custom spec'd vipers for 6 months, along the way you lost a lot of customers, so now it's the dealers fault? So if that's really your belief, here's how to fix that , turn half the units on the ground in dealer stock into demo's and allow customers with sold (custom) orders to drive them as courtesy cars. (Give the dealers a generous demo allowance) Fix your ordering to production to delivery time to 6 weeks.

Best sales month to date was October with 69 retail units, On October 31st reported 1305 built and a total of 495 sold and 600 in inventory. So where are the other 200 vipers, backed up at the plant, exec demo's, show cars???

Even with the production slow down still producing 33 vipers per week, I'm sure the TA's are sold orders but I can't believe that all the vipers being built have homes. Not sure if that was a good move to tell the newer viper dealers who paid the $25K to sell them that they don't know what their doing?? Lot's of vipers for sale at invoice, maybe this article is cover to give them dealer cash to clean up the inventory??

[ViperSmith]

FWIW


In my db I currently have 849 2013 Vipers. I'm still compiling data and checking to see if I missed any. It's surprising just how many of those 849 I see going to regions outside the US. I can't comment on sales data, but ... well, I'll just stop here.


Lets just say, I'm also curious to see if 2013 has as many 1 of 1's as 2010

Vj

How many SRT models were built outside of the original 100 red SRT models w/ track pack?

I heard 70.

[slitherv10]

Ralph may have put some words together that may not have been to the benefit of the Viper but, what I do know, is he is just like any of us here who would love more than to see the Viper and the brand where it should be. At the top of the food chain. The only difference between us and him is,

1. He had the money, balls and backup, to keep the brand alive.

2. His hands are tied as his last name is neither FIAT nor Chrysler,

3. If uncertain about your question, see above.

He is human just like us, with a passion for a car that he actually stuck his neck out a lot more than any of us here would have ever even thought about. Again, I , as well as many of you, have our opinions on what is going on over there. But, unfortunately we are not there. We are over here where it is safe, cheap and easy to make assumptions and opinions which we have no facts or figures to figure out. Between Fiat, Chrysler, himself, the SRT team, the Viper community, dealerships and the media, they all have made mistakes. Just as you and I have. You guys actually think Ralph would have hated to see a 700 HP car and sales that hit the roof ?! Of course he would. He's a car guy people. He wants everything we want and more ! That unfortunately is easier said then done.

[theviper]

Ralph may have put some words together that may not have been to the benefit of the Viper but, what I do know, is he is just like any of us here who would love more than to see the Viper and the brand where it should be. At the top of the food chain. The only difference between us and him is,

1. He had the money, balls and backup, to keep the brand alive.

2. His hands are tied as his last name is neither FIAT nor Chrysler,

3. If uncertain about your question, see above.

He is human just like us, with a passion for a car that he actually stuck his neck out a lot more than any of us here would have ever even thought about. Again, I , as well as many of you, have our opinions on what is going on over there. But, unfortunately we are not there. We are over here where it is safe, cheap and easy to make assumptions and opinions which we have no facts or figures to figure out. Between Fiat, Chrysler, himself, the SRT team, the Viper community, dealerships and the media, they all have made mistakes. Just as you and I have. You guys actually think Ralph would have hated to see a 700 HP car and sales that hit the roof ?! Of course he would. He's a car guy people. He wants everything we want and more ! That unfortunately is easier said then done.

True, but at the same time, it's really not that hard to do things average or even correctly. In my profession, failure is not an option...definitely not multiple times on the same project. We all like Ralph...I think he's a good guy! I was really happy...even proud, when he was chosen to be the CEO of SRT. At the time, I thought it could have made SRT the coolest, hippest brand. I've since learned (and this article from today supports) that asking a designer at a car company to be the CEO of that company is like asking the architect of a hospital to be the medical director of the hospital. It doesn't work.

BTW, I had 2 orders in for a Gen V in the spring. Cancelled them because I couldn't get the color combos I wanted and because allocation was very hard because they were "sold out"!

[99RT10]

This is what I'm wondering about, is if I will be able to steal a 2013 left on the lot once the 2014 is in production. I see dealers are already giving away the Viper for invoice because of slow sales.

Wait till Christmas or New Years. And if they have 2013 when the 2015s come out, fire sale. $30-40k off invoice.

[KRATEDISEASE]

True, but at the same time, it's really not that hard to do things average or even correctly. In my profession, failure is not an option...definitely not multiple times on the same project. We all like Ralph...I think he's a good guy! I was really happy...even proud, when he was chosen to be the CEO of SRT. At the time, I thought it could have made SRT the coolest, hippest brand. I've since learned (and this article from today supports) that asking a designer at a car company to be the CEO of that company is like asking the architect of a hospital to be the medical director of the hospital. It doesn't work.

BTW, I had 2 orders in for a Gen V in the spring. Cancelled them because I couldn't get the color combos I wanted and because allocation was very hard because they were "sold out"!

100% correct, hit the nail on the head.

[F2V]

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