What can SRT engineers do to improve future Gen Vipers?

[chorps]

It would be interesting (for SRT) to discover the average income of new Viper buyers throughout the years. This graph alone would be reason enough for the Viper to market towards the top 1 percent.

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However, combine that with this and you can see why you'd want to move the Viper upscale. Of course the years below are tough ones, but it just shows how badly the last recession hurt.

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[theviper]

I wasn't talking specifically about the auto industry and I don't think the other guy was either. The issue was whether or not there were a lot of people who could afford a car like the viper in today's economy - the answer is yes. Are 6-figure cars selling in high numbers? No, because there is a general lack of leadership in the USA under obama and that breeds uncertainty for all citizens whether they are wealthy or not.

Even if Gen 5 sold at or near its 2000 unit target, it would still be trailing its next nearest competitor, the corvette, by a wide margin (unless you restrict comparisons to the Z06/ZR1 only). I don't think 2000 units for the year was an unrealistic goal, but SRT made some bad calls with regards to production and delivery, plus they didn't advertise so very few people know about the Gen 5.

The economy isn't great but for the people who can afford cars like the viper it's "average" at worst...so I wouldn't pin the slow sales on the economy alone. Viper sales could be better if SRT spent some of their marketing budget on ads rather than dumping all of it into racing.

+1. ACRucrazy, your chart does show that sales are near record #'s. They may not be there yet, but boy are they close. What a rebound over the last 2 years.

Viper sales for 2013 are artificially inflated. Many of those that purchased a Gen 5 are repeat customers and buying it out of loyalty to the brand. You could put out a horse and buggy and call it a Viper and still sell a few hundred to loyalists. So really, maybe only 150 real sales? Who knows. In any case, not only was it not a record high year for Viper, it was pretty much a record LOW year. Definitely not how you launch a new product because it is usually downhill after year 1.

Which means that all Viper fans and loyalist should be very concerned/pissed about the future of the brand. SRT marketing (along with some QC issues) has truly killed the brand. Beth is the head of marketing and to me, she is responsible for the failure of the brand. She isn't a Viper person...never has been. She put on a good show to some of the media, but at the end, her true faults showed. Ralph was (and may still be) blinded by the smoke and mirrors. He needs to realize that no one there knows what they are doing from a marketing standpoint.

 

[Endeka]

Chorps, that's pretty much what I posted a few pages ago. What SRT is missing is that there's a big fat wage gap in this country, and it's right where they're selling their car. Between 120,000 in income per year (probably not a viper buyer) and about 250,000/yr or more is an income area wasteland with few occupants. SRT either needs to sell a $80,000 car, or a $200,000 car with all the R+D and special goodies to roll against Lambo and Ferrari as a true equal-finest Italian leather, CCBs, aluminum frame, the works. Their car is in a tough sales market, you don't see that many of any car in that price range around. I see more Ferraris than I do V8 Vantages, GT3's, or 911 turbos. If you can afford the best, you want the best. This car could be the best, but it needs to be priced and optioned accordingly.

 

[chorps]

Chorps, that's pretty much what I posted a few pages ago. What SRT is missing is that there's a big fat wage gap in this country, and it's right where they're selling their car. Between 120,000 in income per year (probably not a viper buyer) and about 250,000/yr or more is an income area wasteland with few occupants. SRT either needs to sell a $80,000 car, or a $200,000 car with all the R+D and special goodies to roll against Lambo and Ferrari as a true equal-finest Italian leather, CCBs, aluminum frame, the works. Their car is in a tough sales market, you don't see that many of any car in that price range around. I see more Ferraris than I do V8 Vantages, GT3's, or 911 turbos. If you can afford the best, you want the best. This car could be the best, but it needs to be priced and optioned accordingly.

But you didn't use fancy charts.