Dodge Will More Than Double Hellcat Production for 2016

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Posted by Zach Doell 

 

                               

 

If you’ve been waiting patiently all year for a Dodge Challenger or Charger Hellcat, 2016 may be the year for you. In a press release, Dodge brand president Tim Kuniskis has confirmed that production rates of the 707-horsepower muscle cars will more than double for the 2016 model year. 

 

The steep increase in production comes after a stellar debut year for the Hellcat performance cars, but one that has seen a flood of orders that the factory will be unable to fill, despite continued production for 2015 models. Kuniskis told Automotive News that around 900 orders for 2015 Hellcats will go unfulfilled and that those customers will be contacted immediately and given discounted pricing on 2016 model year Hellcats.

“For the 2016 model year we’re starting fresh,” said Kuniskis, adding that Dodge is changing the way that the popular Hellcats are being ordered and sold.

Going forward, Dodge dealerships will now receive advanced notice of how many Hellcat orders they are allowed to submit on a biannual basis, which will help combat the flood of orders seen at certain dealerships. These allocations will be based on the total number of Dodge vehicles sold from a dealership in a certain timeframe and will be adjusted based on the average “days on lot” performance of the Hellcats. Half of the allocations will be announced to dealers in August, with the second half arriving in February 2016.

Due to early overwhelming demand for the muscle cars this year, some dealerships marked up Hellcats on their lots by as much as $20,000, citing market adjustments. Though final pricing will continue to be negotiated between customers and dealers, Automotive News notes that such gouging tactics will not be allowed by Dodge and may earn offending dealerships a loss in future Hellcat order allocation.

Pricing for 2016 models has yet to be disclosed, however the 2016 Hellcat ordering process will begin the second week of August with production of 2016 models starting in September.