New Viper Boasts Best Sales Month Ever Thanks to Price Cut

YAHOO AUTOS

 

 

                   

Posted By Tim Healey            

 

 

 

 

Apparently, when a fantastic product is overpriced, doing the logical thing and slashing that price can do wonders for sales. Just ask Dodge. That’s what finally seems to be working.
Dodge gave the 2015 Dodge Viper a significant price cut in response to slow sales, applying the cut to remaining 2014 models as well. Not surprisingly, the car is selling better than it was before.

 

The current Viper is probably the best Viper ever made, and it undoubtedly offers creature comforts and technology features that the previous versions didn’t. But with a price tag around $125,000, many buyers were staying away. It didn’t matter that the Viper can outshine costlier cars, people just weren’t buying.

Maybe it’s because buyers lump the Viper in with Chevy’s cheaper Corvette Stingray (although I’ve had PR types from each company tell me the two aren’t cross-shopped as much as you’d think. That’s PR speak, though, so take it as you will), or maybe it’s because consumers can’t fathom any muscular American coupe in that price range, even if it’s worth it.

Whatever the cause, Fiat-Chrysler dropped the price $15,000, extended vouchers to folks who’d already bought 2014 models, and sales have jumped.

Dodge sold 108 units in September, which is the best month for the current generation. More significantly, it’s a huge jump from earlier months this year. Only 38 Vipers sold in August, 48 in July, and 36 in June. So that means the September total came close to the three-month aggregate.

All those sold Vipers were 2014 models, too, so there’s a chance that numbers may jump again when the slightly refreshed 2015 models finally go on sale. Cutting the price seems like the best move Dodge could have made.