The Chrysler Group has resumed production of the SRT Viper following a two-month shutdown period due to slow sales. Production at the Conner Avenue Assembly Plant was idled on April 14th, with 91 UAW-represented employees being laid off. As of March 1, Chrysler had delivered only 100 Vipers for the year in the United States and Canada and had 756 unsold Vipers in its inventory.
Since then, SRT sold 324 examples of its halo sports car in North America, AutoGuide reports. April was the Viper’s most successful month this year, with 97 units delivered in the United States and 15 sold in Canada. Surprisingly enough, Canadian sales have climbed from 4 vehicles in January to 21 in June, while U.S. sales took a nose dive from 97 units in April to just 36 in June.
There’s no word as to how many SRT Viper will be built per day for the remainder of the year. Last year, production peaked at nine vehicles per day before SRT decided to slow things down and assemble only six units per day.
The 2014 SRT Viper is priced from $102,485 and can fetch more than $124,985 when selected in the range-topping GTS trim. The Viper costs twice as much as the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and will likely be more expensive than the brutal 2015 Corvette Z06.
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper.
Why It Matters
When Chrysler initially announced plans to idle Viper production, we started to wonder whether the lack of interest in the 640-horsepower sports car may result in a short lifespan for the current-generation model. Now that production has resumed, it’s obvious that Chrysler is still backing the project, although the outcome is rather unpredictable if sales don’t pick up. However, we know for a fact that the Viper will continue into the 2015 model year, as stated by Chrysler earlier in July, albeit with a Dodge badge on its body.
SRT Viper
Revised for the 2013 model year, the SRT Viper is powered by an 8.4-liter V-10 engine that delivers 640 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque via a six-speed manual transmission. The semi-supercar is available in several versions and special editions, ranging from the track-prepped Time Attack (TA) to the race-inspired GTS. Pricing begins from $102,458 and goes all the way up to $118,485 for the TA package. The range-topping GTS fetches $124,985, while adding an Anodized Carbon pack to it will set customers back a whopping $138,885.
Source: Autoguide
