ORIGINAL: Thor77
While I hate the idea of paying markup, and would avoid it myself, it is simple economics that when the demand for the item exceeds the supply, the price goes up. As the Barrett-Jackson auction proves over and over, there are plenty of muscle car enthusiasts out there with more money than they know what to do with. When they'll pay a hundred grand for non-original, engine swapped restorations, why would they bat an eyelash about dishing out $50-60 grand for the first new Challenger? To some people, 10 grand doesn't mean any more than what a couple hundred bucks means to me. Just hope that Dodge starts crankin these suckers out so that the markup is short-lived.
I also will not pay markup. I'll wait if need be for the fervor to die down and then pay MSRP or maybe even get one with incentives. Most bidders you see at Barrett Jackson are speculators who are looking to make a buck on these cars. (Ever notice a car that is in the auction for consecutive years, there are a quite a few.) Few are enthusiasts that will ever actually drive and enjoy what they are bidding on. Sure there will be a few who'll buy a new Challenger or several and then mothball them for future speculation but there will be many more who'll buy one because it is the "flavor of the month" and have to have the newest thing out there. These are the ones who'll trade them in after a year for the next flavor of the month. Then we'll have choices of new or used Challengers to further dampen the markup possibility. Then guess what? The Camaro will come out and lessen the chances of Dodge dealers gouging buyers even more to be competitive with the Camaro and it's prospective buyers. And yes high production numbers can't hurt either! Dealers that try to "get over" on customers to turn even greater profit will get none of my money and will never gain loyal customers by what amounts to extortion to purchase a new model vehicle.