Jeremiah 29:11

I guess our friends from down under will have to drive on the correct side of the car. LOL!

Dodge Charger in limbo

Article from: By Mark Hinchliffe
August 25, 2007 12:00am

AUSTRALIA could soon be saying Hey Charger! Remember the popular and catchy 1970s advertising campaign? Well, Chrysler Group Australia managing director Gerry Jenkins would like to think we could see a return to that catchphrase by introducing the new Dodge Charger.

However, he'll have a fight on his hands.

Chrysler Corporation international product senior manager Kevin Tourneur from headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, said the Charger was made only in left-hand-drive and Australia was the only right-hand-drive market that wanted the car.

"Charger is sold primarily in the US and around the world in US spec," he said.

"Japan is interested, but they can bring it in in limited numbers in left-hand-drive and it's a bit of a status symbol in Japan to have a left-hand-drive."

But Jenkins, who hails from the hallowed Michigan halls of Chrysler power, still has hopes he can change some minds when production plants are moved next year.

"You'd be surprised how things change," he said. "I'm still an optimist."

And Jenkins doesn't want just the standard Charger, either, but the 253kW Street and Racing Technology version.

"There is definitely a market for a mid-sized sports vehicle like this," said Jenkins, who likened it to the confronting macho presence of the Dodge Nitro.

"We can't get enough Nitros," he said. "It's pretty aggressive styling.

"It's always a gamble growing volume, but all of a sudden people wanted the Nitro.

"I haven't seen this type of demand since the 300C was introduced.

"We really didn't pre-market it (Nitro) and the dealers started ordering them."

Jenkins believes the aggressive and macho styling cues of the four-door Charger, and to a lesser extent the upcoming two-door Challenger, will appeal to Australians.

"Dodge is an in-your-face brand and unapologetic. It's like a Harley-Davidson thing; it's an emotional thing.

"Japanese cars are very elegant, but ours are all about emotion."

1 Bad Mirada

i love when they talk about these senior execs and how much they know about the automotive world...theyre financial analysts. they know about making money, and approval ratings. id like to see one of them change a camshaft...or maybe adjust a carb at a dragstrip to get rid of a launch hesistation. then maybe i would have some faith in their assumptions about the automotive industry. there is, after all, a reason that all of the american automotive companies are in severe financial trouble...

Yankee

Forgive me but I'm not understanding the "limbo" part of the title of this post... from the article quoted, the Charger is seemingly in very much demand in Australia, and even the Japanese seem interested in it.

Seems like the Charger is anything BUT "in limbo"... unless "limbo" means something else in Australia [sm=wtf.gif]

lear4406

Jeremiah, I believe you hit the hammer on the nail. I really could'nt put my finger on it. But the Harley statement is so true. Dodge has for the most part ( Charger, Challenger) been an in your face kind of car. Australians are so car crazy, so much like the US. They like big cube power houses just like we do. They are unlike the Europeans, who want to use small displacement and some kind of VVT or compressor to make up the difference. Nothing wrong with that! Just saying that the Aussies and the Yanks have more in common than most other nations when it comes to cars. But the Harley reference is spot on. If you drive a Charger, Challenger then you are running in a different pack. We see the styling different than the GM and Ford boys.

RLSH700

They would be fools not to sell the Charger in Australia. In fact, I would say that Chrysler should have Australia come up with most of the muscle ideas for over here. The Aussies love muscle cars even more than we do. They have consistently had muscle offerings even in times when we didn't.

Jeremiah 29:11

Yankee.....let me help you.

In other words, unless Chrysler makes a right handed car Charger, Australia will not be seeing this car. That is what "limbo" means......kinda of like "up in the air".

Jeremiah 29:11

Thanks lear4406. I put Harley's, Challenger, Cudas, and Chargers all in the same boat that were "bad to the bone".

You see a Harley biker guy, you don't walk close to him for fear of chewing you up and spitting you out.

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/21722CF24D4A4B1AB6B174911BEB30EB.jpg[/IMG]

RLSH700

The thing that confuses me is don't they already make a right-hand drive 300 for Europe? If so why is this such a problem as the interior is practically the same between the two, except the gauges and some of the options. Does the exterior really need a lot of changing that would be a problem? If this was such a problem I would just take the interior of the right-hand drive 300 and put it in the Charger and sell it in Australia. Better to sell it and make money than pass up on an almost guaranteed market.

Also, I agree with you Jeremiah on the "bad to the bones" image of many of Dodge's models as they are like Harley Davidson in this sense. They are the most brutual performance brand currently.

Yankee

Thanks Jeremiah, guess the "limbo" part was a little misleading (on my part I guess...)

RLSH, the only "European" market that is right hand drive is the U.K. - the rest of Europe drives on the right side of the road like the rest of us. Jeep makes a RHD Liberty and Grand Cherokee (and Wrangler too, if I'm not mistaken), but I don't know of any LX-platform car that is RHD. Not that they couldn't make one if they wanted to, guess Chrysler will have to decide if there's a big enough market for it. Sure seems like there is, and I think Chrysler would be a damn fool not to take advantage of it.

Jeremiah 29:11

I think that the mechanical linkages for steering and pedals and the holes in the firewall would have to be machined. Re-routing master electrical harnasses or redesigning them would have to be done also.