Brampton to build new Dodge Charger (planned for 2006)

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...485&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851
Sep. 30, 2004. 08:02 AM
Brampton to build new Dodge Charger
Rear-wheel sedan planned for 2006

Could create need to add 3rd shift

TONY VAN ALPHEN
BUSINESS REPORTER

The Charger is coming to Brampton.

DaimlerChrysler Canada officials confirmed yesterday the auto maker
will rejuvenate the legendary Charger and build it at its Brampton
assembly plant in the second half of next year.

The decision, one of a series of moves DaimlerChrysler's parent
company is considering, could have a big influence on whether the
Canadian subsidiary will add a third shift to meet booming demand for
its other new models.

"The Charger has great potential," company president Mark Norman said
in a brief interview yesterday.

The rear-wheel sedan, which disappeared in the early 1980s, will be
built on the same platform as the hot-selling Chrysler 300 and 300 C
sedans and Dodge Magnum wagon, all built in Brampton.

Company officials would not project sales volumes for the Charger,
which is scheduled to enter dealer showrooms as a 2006 model.

The decision ends months of speculation that Brampton would be the
logical plant to manufacture the Charger since it is the company's
only North American plant equipped to build rear-wheel drive cars.

Dodge launched the Charger name in 1966 as a high-powered sports car
and it quickly became popular among the street-racing set.

An orange 1969 Charger, dubbed the General Lee, was arguably the
biggest star of the popular television series The Dukes of Hazard in
the late 1970s and 1980s. The exposure generated free publicity for
the model and boosted sales.

Chrysler phased out the model in the late 1970s and revived it briefly
in the 1980s as a front-wheel coupe.

DaimlerChrysler is currently looking at several possibilities for its
network of plants and the Brampton operation is a big piece of the
puzzle.

The company is in the process of introducing 25 new products over a
three-year period.

The Brampton plant, which employs about 3,000 workers, has been
operating two nine-hour shifts five days a week, plus eight hours on
most Saturdays and another six hours on some Sundays because of the
popularity of the 300 and 300 C sedans.

Furthermore, initial reports show demand for the Magnum is also
extremely strong.

A third shift would add another 900 jobs at the plant and create more
spin-off work for auto-parts suppliers in the region.

Insiders say it will be difficult to add the Charger to production in
Brampton without a third shift, considering the strong demand for the
300 and 300 C vehicles and apparent potential for the Magnum.

DaimlerChrysler is trying to determine whether sales volumes for the
300 and 300 C will continue over the long term, warranting the
addition of a third shift in Brampton or retooling elsewhere.

"There are choices in how to best utilize the corporation's capacity,"
Norman said following a product review for journalists.

Norman said DaimlerChrysler has not set a firm deadline to decide on a
third shift at Brampton, but industry insiders believe the auto maker
will decide by the end of the first quarter of next year.

The company started negotiating with the Canadian Auto Workers earlier
this month, seeking contract improvements to increase competitiveness,
staffing numbers and overtime schedules in a potential third shift at
Brampton. But the company has also suggested it could assemble the
models at some U.S. plants.

At DaimlerChrysler's product presentation yesterday, vice-president of
marketing Ron Smith described the 300 models as the best car in the
company's history.

"It's head and shoulders above what we've ever done," he gushed.

"It's incredible to drive."

 

I hope it does better than the new Pontiac GTO has done! Sales numbers of the
"new" GTO are actually lower than the numbers for the (gag-me-please for saying
it) Aztec model!!! Same for the "new" Ford T-Bird...nobody bought. It doesn't
seem like the public has a desire for the true thoroughbred "muscle car"
(except possibly the Ford Mustang, but is that even selling very well these
days?) Buyers seem most interested in a "family", "luxury" or "utility" type of
vehicle that has muscle. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the Charger
does! The 300 and Magnum sales success sure did surprise me...so the Charger
might as well!

 

It would help if the muscle cars actually had some muscle.


Matt

 

Speaking of the Mustang, I saw it at last year's Detroit auto show. You
could not keep people away from this thing. A mob surrounded the car
the whole show. It will be a hit. The problem with the new GTO is that
it doesn't look anything like a GTO. It's just another Pontiac with a
GTO emblem on it.

 

the reason no one is buying the GTO is that there is NOTHING that makes it
distinctive from a grand prix/grand am...looks wise that is.

 

No, it isn't even a Pontiac - it is a slightly restyled Australian Holden with
"Pontiac" and "GTO" badging.

 

| James C. Reeves wrote:
|
| > I hope it does better than the new Pontiac GTO has done! Sales numbers of
the
| > "new" GTO are actually lower than the numbers for the (gag-me-please for
saying
| > it) Aztec model!!! Same for the "new" Ford T-Bird...nobody bought. It
doesn't
| > seem like the public has a desire for the true thoroughbred "muscle car"
| > (except possibly the Ford Mustang, but is that even selling very well these
| > days?) Buyers seem most interested in a "family", "luxury" or "utility"
type of
| > vehicle that has muscle. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the
Charger
| > does! The 300 and Magnum sales success sure did surprise me...so the
Charger
| > might as well!
| >
| >
|
| It would help if the muscle cars actually had some muscle.
|
|
| Matt
|

I believe the specs on the new GTO has a 0-60 time of just over 5-seconds.
That is 1-second faster to 60 than my 1967 GTO had. Seems to be plenty of
muscle to me.

 

I knew they should have added the hood scoop. ;-)

| the reason no one is buying the GTO is that there is NOTHING that makes it
| distinctive from a grand prix/grand am...looks wise that is.
|
|
|
| | >
| > I hope it does better than the new Pontiac GTO has done! Sales numbers of
| > the
| > "new" GTO are actually lower than the numbers for the (gag-me-please for
| > saying
| > it) Aztec model!!! Same for the "new" Ford T-Bird...nobody bought. It
| > doesn't
| > seem like the public has a desire for the true thoroughbred "muscle car"
| > (except possibly the Ford Mustang, but is that even selling very well
| > these
| > days?) Buyers seem most interested in a "family", "luxury" or "utility"
| > type of
| > vehicle that has muscle. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the
| > Charger
| > does! The 300 and Magnum sales success sure did surprise me...so the
| > Charger
| > might as well!
| >
| >
|
|

 

Except that with your 1967 GTO you could cheaply modify it's engine to make
it go a whole lot faster.

With the new GTO you can't do anything to it's engine.

You also might compare the pricing. In 1967 list on the hardtop GTO was
$2935 that is $16,652 in today's dollars, according to the CPI Inflation
Calculator.
The new GTO pricing is about $35,000 over double the pricing of the original
when
adjusted for inflation.

I'd still take your 1967 GTO over the new one.

Ted Mittelstaedt

 

You can do plenty, as the Z28 and Corvette guys have been doing it for
years. This motor makes a lot more real power than the '67 389
tri-power, with better idle and nowhere near the emissions. Any goober
can build a 500 hp motor if you don't have to worry about fuel economy,
idle quality and/or emissions.

What could you buy a fully restored to factory specs 1967 GTO for today?
More than $16K, that's for sure. One can easily drop 20 large on a
restoration.

 

| > I'd still take your 1967 GTO over the new one.
| >
| > Ted Mittelstaedt
| >
| >

Me too. Definitely!!

 

Rich man's toys. I can drive my '68 Torino on the street, legally, with a
goober-built
500hp motor because back in '68 we didn't have to worry about emissions
(save EGR they had that, then)

Your missing the point. Joe-Kid today can afford a 2-3 year old car that
sold
for $16K new. It's a stretch and he will be pumping a lot of gas for a
while but
he can do it. But the only kind of cars today that meet that criteria are 4
bangers
that get turned into ricermobiles. Definitly not 2-3 year old $35K GTO's.
And
when the Joe-Kid's cannot afford the musclecars because they have been
priced
into the midlife-crisis-suffers-late-40s-men-who-have-too-much-money market,
then nobody else can either.

Once upon a time a sports car was considered just another kind of vehicle
and
it was assumed that the average person could choose one among the many
choices available. Lots of people did and used them for commutermobiles
and spent a small amount of money and got a lot of driving enjoyment during
their commutes.

Somehow the image was created that pure sports cars
wern't for the average person any longer, and so they were priced out of the
reach of most people. (I'm not talking sports sedans here which are just
wannabe sports cars) When that was done, it killed the muscle car. Today
the Corvettes and suchlike that I see rolling around aren't used for
commuter vehicles, they are second cars for people that want expensive
toys. When it comes to people not wanting to take their sports car to the
grocery store
to buy beer anymore because they are afraid it's going to get dinged, it's
a sad end to the muscle car, and it's like what's the point of owning one?

Ted

 

The new GTO is too pricey, and has very little room for a car so big.
Also, from some angles, it is hard to distinquish from a Chevy Cavalier.