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Dodge Viper plant will close for good Aug. 31

It has been a long time coming, an end rumored since at least 2015, but after 25 years, the Dodge Viper's demise is nigh. Production of the $90,000 bespoke sports car is ending. Therefore, FCA will be shutting down its Conner Assembly Plant on Aug. 31. Automotive News reports that the Detroit plant will be shutting down. The car has been hand-built there since 1995, save for a hiatus in 2010-13 (production began at FCA's Mack Plant in 1992). The Prowler was built there, too, from 1997 to 2002. More than 80 workers currently build the Viper, making Conner FCA's smallest assembly facility. But not many Vipers are sold - 630 last year - despite an enthusiastic following. And of course FCA's own 707-horsepower Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats and new 840-horsepower Challenger SRT Demon can't help matters. But the last straw is the fact the Viper can't comply with new safety requirements going into effect. On the bright side, the UAW has seen the plant closure coming since 2015, and FCA has told the state of Michigan that it expects to find positions at other plants for the Viper crew. FCA has been celebrating the Viper valedictory for a couple of years now, offering serialized special editions, including the $121,000 Viper ACR, and touting the ability to build unique Vipers with its "1 of 1" customization program, with a choice of 16,000 unique paint colors and 48,000 unique stripe combinations. Related Video:

Chrysler killing off the 200 Convertible, Dodge Avenger

When Chrysler rolled out the first-generation 200 to replace the Sebring range in 2010, it included replacements for both the sedan and the convertible. The Sebring Coupe, however, was left out of the mix. And now that the second-generation Chrysler 200 is descending upon us, Auburn Hills is paring things down even further. But this time, it's the convertible that reportedly isn't making the cut. Shame, too, since the rendering above shows what could have been quite an attractive droptop.
As our compatriots at Edmunds point out, sales of the convertible model accounted for less than five percent of overall Chrysler 200 sales, and at those numbers, the considerable cost of engineering a new drop-top couldn't be justified. With the Toyota Camry Solara and Volkswagen Eos also gone from the market (well, the VW isn't gone quite yet), the discontinuation of the Chrysler 200 Convertible leaves the affordable convertible segment largely to the sportier likes of the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro and smaller European offerings like the Mini Cooper and VW Beetle.
The Chrysler 200 Convertible isn't the only derivative being left behind with the new model: so too is the Dodge Avenger. That will leave a glaring hole in the Dodge lineup, with nothing to bridge the gap between the compact Dart and the larger Charger. Whether the Dodge brand has any plans to replace the Avenger with another model, not to be based on the 200, remains to be seen.

Get a peek at the Dodge Demon in the new Fate of the Furious trailer

Will all of the news that comes out, Thursdays should now be referred to as Demon Days (no relation to the 2005 album by Gorillaz), at least until April. In addition to this morning's news on the Dodge Demon's Launch Assist and beefed-up components, the automaker released a trailer/commercial for The Fate of the Furious that shows a Dodge barrage and a few quick looks at the new car. The film, which opens days after the Demon's debut at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, is packed full of Dodge, SRT, and FCA products. While the few cars shown in the garage look superficially like Demons, they appear to just be standard Hellcats – the hood is wrong, and they are missing the fender flares. On the other hand, the ones in the trailer's chase scene appear to be the real deal, or at least made to look like it, with the big AirGrabber hood scoop and wide-body fender flares. We've seen a few of these cars already on the film's set, so this is no real surprise. The ad itself is a bit strange. The shots of the woman standing in front of the SRT lineup appear to be cut into footage from the film, so she's not actually talking to the cast in these scenes. That's why a narrow-body car bursts through the wall and becomes a wide-body Demon-like thing. Well, the Fast and Furious franchise was built on bad dialog and over the top car stunts, so par for the course? The film debuts on April 14, and expect the Demon around that time, too. Related Video: News Source: Dodge/YouTube TV/Movies Dodge Performance dodge demon dodge hellcat the fate of the furious