Don’t panic—the production of the Dodge Hellcat Charger and Challenger was not halted due to a lack of sales. In fact, Dodge stated in its blog this week it’s no longer taking orders for the 707hp muscle car because it’s too behind on orders.
According to an article from Road and Track, about 2,200 cars have been delivered worldwide—which includes both the 2-door Challenger and the 4-door Charger. More than 9,000 orders have been placed in recent months for the extreme muscle cars.
Fiat Chrysler, which owns Dodge and the SRT division has warned potential customers that certain dealerships have been accepting deposits for the Hellcat without actually having permission from Dodge to do so. Dealerships have been allocated one Hellcat per month. Dealerships must also pay a fine if an unsold Hellcat sits on the lot for more than five days. There have been reports that some dealerships have accepted $5,000 non-refundable deposits on cars they cannot fulfill the order for.
It is unclear how long production will be halted, but one would assume that Dodge will take advantage of the increased demand and hold off on new orders until others have been filled. With demand so strong, and no new orders being taken, it will be interesting to see what will happen to the value of already delivered Hellcats.
The Hellcat Challenger comes with a reasonable base price of $59,995 and the 4-door Charger starts at $63,995. Both vehicles get their power from a supercharged 6.2L V8 engine that makes an astonishing 707hp. For the price, there may not be a better, more powerful car out there. A new Lamborghini Aventador packs 700hp and has a starting price of almost $500,000; although both cars offer different types of extremes.
The Charger wears the crown when it comes to the world of powerful sedans, which has been an increasingly popular market. The car holds a record-setting top speed for a sedan of a blistering fast 204 mph (yes, it’s been proven) and holds the record for the fastest quarter mile by a sedan at 11 seconds.
The Challenger has a top speed of a very fast 199 mph, a 0-60mph in the low three-second range and runs a 10.8 second quarter mile. Surprisingly, the car manages to get 22 mpg despite the massive power output.
To allow for easier daily driving, the Hellcat models come with two different key fobs. One key fob restricts the engines power output to “just” 500hp, while the second key will unleash all 707hp.
According to CNN, Challenger sales are up 60%, while Charger sales have increased 23% for January and February. This leads me to believe Dodge has won the battle of the revival of the muscle cars between Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet. Although successful, sales numbers for the Mustang and Camaro don’t come close to matching that of the Hellcat. Also consider the fact that the Hellcat models are the fastest production muscle cars in the world right now for a very reasonable price. Will Chevy and Ford catch up? Will the Hellcat model duo have any competition in the near future? Only time will tell.
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Check out the 2015 Hellcat Challenger here
Check out the 2015 Hellcat Charger here