Chrysler to decide whether to build Challenger by fall, report says
 

Chrysler to decide whether to build Challenger by fall, report says


By BRADFORD WERNLE | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

AutoWeek | Published 06/19/06, 7:52 am et

The Chrysler group may decide whether to make the Challenger muscle car as early as the end of the third quarter, CEO Tom LaSorda says.

LaSorda on Friday said Chrysler has been flooded with positive responses to the Challenger concept, shown at the Detroit auto show in January.

"You have to look at the investment, the cost of the program and the margins you can make," he told Automotive News at Chrysler's Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters. "With something like this, you chase the business case and not the volume."

Chrysler officials have said the Challenger will likely be a lower-volume car with a V-8 engine. It would be built on the same platform as the Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum and Dodge Charger cars. John Wolkonowicz, an analyst for Global Insight, predicts Chrysler will make 20,000 to 30,000 and sell them in the low-$30,000 range.