More Great SRT Insight from Ralph

[SSGViper]

http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-technology/viper-staying-chrysler-s-lineup

Since it hit the market with a bang, the SRT Viper has mainly soldiered on making nothing more than a whimper. Demand for the reborn, V10-powered rocket has struggled, although SRT boss Ralph Gilles remains committed to the slinky serpent, according to a report from Wards.

"The plant is booked solid. We actually have several hundred units outstanding we still have to build," Gilles told Wards. This despite Chrysler trimming production early in the Viper's life, missing its internally targeted on-sale date and having no shortage of competition from the cheaper and equally new Chevrolet Corvette.

The problem Chrysler and SRT are facing now is one of very particular customers, according to Gilles. "I think the mistake we're making is understanding the customer who spends $130,000 to $140,000 for a car. They want what they want - their color, their stripe, their package, their interior. And dealers trying to anticipate the market ended up creating a car that may not be the right car," he said. "I don't think our network understands the segment very well."

Despite this specificity on the part of owners, Gilles claims that sales remain strong heading into the slow winter months, with a majority of Chrysler's 443 Viper stores having inventory in stock. "Most of these vehicles are enjoying an incredibly wonderful life sitting in showrooms looking very ****, and they've been sitting there since August," Gilles told Wards. "So it's not really all that bad. I'm not worried about the sales."
News Source: Wards Auto

 

[SnakeBitten]

Ok that seems like it had to be taken out of context or Ralph was being sarcastic. I'm ******* the guy and SRT but there's no way he said that with a straight face lol. I think if he did say this it was sarcasm if I'm reading it right.

 

[Jay M]

I would have thought the majority of modern car buyers are impulse buyers, not those who are willing to wait months for a custom car to be built. Who insisted that the first cars should be Launch Edition - the dealer network or Chrysler?

I'm glad the press seems to like the TA edition. That's got to help sales. If they could have had a convertible at the LA auto show, that would have also renewed some excitement. With the Corvette turning out better than expected, and the newest Porsches meeting their high expectations, it does take some of the spotlight away from the Viper.

On the positive side, most of us love these cars because you don't see them all over the place like you do with 911's and Corvettes. In my opinion there is no better looking car made in modern history than the Gen V in Stryker red. It also happens to be one of the fastest cars money can buy.

As long as the big boss doesn't mind breaking even, or even losing a little, but still remains commited so that the Viper can remain, we should all be happy.

~Jay

 

[SSGViper]

Why would anyone in his position even say that in the first place, I don't care if it is serious or sarcastic...Why even spew that?

I find the comments here quite amusing:

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/gilles-on-slow-viper-sales/#aol-comments

 

[SSGViper]

I'm glad the press seems to like the TA edition. That's got to help sales.

~Jay

According to Ralph, the TAs are all spoken for. I'm not sure if he means pre-sold or "gone" to dealers. Thinking the latter:

Gilles says the Anodized Carbon models “have been allocated to dealers and they’re already spoken for. And the TAs are gone. Orders opened up and in three days they were gone.”

 

[HobokenViper]

Either the OP misquoted the article and seems to have tweaked it to read the way they wanted it to read and sound worse or different to make their own point, or there was another story re-written somewhere that did the same thing that the OP quoted. This is the actual quote from the article, with many more sections reading differently from the OP's quotes as well.

"Gilles says more than a third of the 443 authorized Viper dealerships in Chrysler's network don't have a single car to offer a buyer, even though "a handful" are sitting on several. He says that's OK, because who's going to complain about a Viper endlessly "looking ****" in a showroom? That is one way to look at it."

 

[ViperSmith]

I would have thought the majority of modern car buyers are impulse buyers, not those who are willing to wait months for a custom car to be built. Who insisted that the first cars should be Launch Edition - the dealer network or Chrysler?

I'm glad the press seems to like the TA edition. That's got to help sales. If they could have had a convertible at the LA auto show, that would have also renewed some excitement. With the Corvette turning out better than expected, and the newest Porsches meeting their high expectations, it does take some of the spotlight away from the Viper.

On the positive side, most of us love these cars because you don't see them all over the place like you do with 911's and Corvettes. In my opinion there is no better looking car made in modern history than the Gen V in Stryker red. It also happens to be one of the fastest cars money can buy.

As long as the big boss doesn't mind breaking even, or even losing a little, but still remains commited so that the Viper can remain, we should all be happy.

~Jay

Many high end vehicles are [mostly] custom ordered. how many buy 911's fresh off a lot compared to ordering? Ferrari the same way, Lambo as well.

SRTs biggest fumble was not getting custom orders for people with cash in hand out the door first.

 

[SSGViper]

Either the OP misquoted the article and seems to have tweaked it to read the way they wanted it to read and sound worse or different to make their own point, or there was another story re-written somewhere that did the same thing that the OP quoted. This is the actual quote from the article, with many more sections reading differently from the OP's quotes as well.

"Gilles says more than a third of the 443 authorized Viper dealerships in Chrysler's network don't have a single car to offer a buyer, even though "a handful" are sitting on several. He says that's OK, because who's going to complain about a Viper endlessly "looking ****" in a showroom? That is one way to look at it."

Here are my sources, lets see your source. Mine say nothing to the effect of yours. Regardless, it's a stupid thing for Ralph to say to the media for someone that high up in the food chain at Chrysler/Fiat. Ralph needs to get the hell outta dodge, literally.

http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-technology/viper-staying-chrysler-s-lineup

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/gilles-on-slow-viper-sales/#aol-comments

 

[ViperSmith]

Here are my sources, lets see your source. Mine say nothing to the effect of yours. Regardless, it's a stupid thing for Ralph to say to the media for someone that high up in the food chain at Chrysler/Fiat. Ralph needs to get the hell outta dodge, literally.

http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-technology/viper-staying-chrysler-s-lineup

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/gilles-on-slow-viper-sales/#aol-comments

But what would you have to complain about then?

 

[Jay M]

Many high end vehicles are [mostly] custom ordered. how many buy 911's fresh off a lot compared to ordering? Ferrari the same way, Lambo as well.

SRTs biggest fumble was not getting custom orders for people with cash in hand out the door first.

Thats' really interesting, I would have expected that for a Ferrari, or Lamborghini, but not Porsche.

Do you happen to know how long it takes to get a custom 911?

~Jay

 

[ViperSmith]

Thats' really interesting, I would have expected that for a Ferrari, or Lamborghini, but not Porsche.

Do you happen to know how long it takes to get a custom 911?

~Jay

Why I canceled my Gen V originally, I started looking at a 911S. He had a few in queue - I think the turn around for him was 2 months if I remember correctly. Porsche dealers will (as explained to me) option a pending order out, then when someone wants on, they will simply alter it to what someone wants. So, they do "order" them ahead of time, but simply change the queued order around.

America is strange, in Europe almost all cars are ordered vs here where they usually sit on lots.

 

[SADVIPER]

SRTs biggest fumble was not getting custom orders for people with cash in hand out the door first.

SRT will not learn from this mistake and will still be as uncarring in 2014.
It is so simple.

 

[theviper]

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. 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. But I'm afraid he drank too much of his own kool-aid. This is not good for Viper.

 

[HobokenViper]

Here are my sources, lets see your source. Mine say nothing to the effect of yours. Regardless, it's a stupid thing for Ralph to say to the media for someone that high up in the food chain at Chrysler/Fiat. Ralph needs to get the hell outta dodge, literally.

http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-technology/viper-staying-chrysler-s-lineup

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/11/26/gilles-on-slow-viper-sales/#aol-comments

Just look at the link on this thread started today on the Gen V forum as well.
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/669534-Ralph-quot-The-Viper-is-Selling-Just-Fine-Thanks-quot

That's my source, which looks like the real one that is not twisted to read out of context. Seems that one or more of these articles was made to read in a negative way and the other in a more normal positive way, the way you would expect Ralph to respond. I'll leave the decision for you to make as to which is the real quote, but it seems obvious to me.

 

[HobokenViper]

How can my cited article state something quoted so totally opposite to the tune? All of the three articles have varying takes on the same quote. Sounds like something really screwy going on here. Point is, don't give too much credit to these articles because chances are most of what they report is likely twisted, re-worded, or taken out of context to sound like whatever the writer wants it to say. Likely all three are full of BS in several spots. I for one can't imagine Ralph saying what your 2 articles quoted him saying. Those quotes don't even make sense.....?

 

[SSGViper]

How can my cited article state something quoted so totally opposite to the tune? All of the three articles have varying takes on the same quote. Sounds like something really screwy going on here. Point is, don't give too much credit to these articles because chances are most of what they report is likely twisted, re-worded, or taken out of context to sound like whatever the writer wants it to say. Likely all three are full of BS in several spots. I for one can't imagine Ralph saying what your 2 articles quoted him saying. Those quotes don't even make sense.....?

I agree, very odd. Especially since Wards did the interview which is the one quoted in post #1

 

[SnakeBitten]

Just look at the link on this thread started today on the Gen V forum as well.
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads/669534-Ralph-quot-The-Viper-is-Selling-Just-Fine-Thanks-quot

That's my source, which looks like the real one that is not twisted to read out of context. Seems that one or more of these articles was made to read in a negative way and the other in a more normal positive way, the way you would expect Ralph to respond. I'll leave the decision for you to make as to which is the real quote, but it seems obvious to me.

As I thought. Something has to be taken out of context or just straight up rewrote. I think some in the automotive media are trying to cash in on the feeding frenzy of negativity surrounding SRT and Ralph.

Dont get me wrong now, SRT deserves some of the lashing they are getting for the obvious reasons but when you start sabotaging quotes etc then I stop listening and reading. That serves absolutely zero purpose except to demonize.

I think most of us that are ******* SRT just want to see them right the ship instead of them sinking. If you can't market a 100k 640hp sportscar sucessfully to your own previous owner base something is definitely wrong with the approach. No need to even look at the lackluster conquest buyer data after seeing the former. 2014 just has to be better as there is only up from where they are now. Well, except extinct.

 

[theviper]

I think most of us that are ******* SRT just want to see them right the ship instead of them sinking. If you can't market a 100k 640hp sportscar sucessfully to your own previous owner base something is definitely wrong with the approach. No need to even look at the lackluster conquest buyer data after seeing the former. 2014 just has to be better as there is only up from where they are now. Well, except extinct.

+1. If they can't sell the car to us, the passionate fans of the car, then they have a serious problem. SRT must have royally ********** everyone in the media over the last 2 years. It was probably the pompousness from the marketing team and the arrogance of sending broken cars to magazines and ripping them a new one when they complained about it. Yeah, I'd be a little pissed too if I was Motor Trend.

 

[SnakeBitten]

+1. If they can't sell the car to us, the passionate fans of the car, then they have a serious problem. SRT must have royally ********** everyone in the media over the last 2 years. It was probably the pompousness from the marketing team and the arrogance of sending broken cars to magazines and ripping them a new one when they complained about it. Yeah, I'd be a little pissed too if I was Motor Trend.

Without rehashing the obvious it is readily apparent that SRT did no favors with their rushed to market strategy with this car. All the fumbles are evidence of a product and management that was not ready for prime time. This is a small reason why I think 2014 and beyond just has to be better for SRT and the Viper. The article by Jalopnik on the TA was great and a nice positive step. I suspect the upcoming C&D Lightning Lap will further put the Viper in good light in terms of performance as they have commited to providing a fully sorted TA for that test. All small steps in the right direction and shows they are aware of the mistakes imho. After seeing how his words were chopped up and misquoted Ralph might need to be a bit more deliberate in what he says. There is no shortage of sharks when chum is in the water.