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Dodge has released 500 million horsepower onto American roads since 2005

Dodge started using horsepower to measure sales when it launched its Power Dollars rebate program in August 2019. The clever campaign has paid off, and the company reached its goal of putting 500 million horsepower in the hands of enthusiasts two months ahead of schedule. The ongoing Power Dollars program rewards buyers who think big when it comes to their car's specifications sheet. Motorists in the market for a 2019 Challenger, a 2019 Charger, or a 2019 Durango can save $10 for every horsepower their future car's engine generates. There's no replacement for displacement here; the more horsepower you take on, the more discount you'll see when you sign the dotted line. The 797-horsepower Challenger Hellcat Redeye is eligible for a $7,970 discount, for example, while the tamer Charger SXT with a 3.6-liter, 292-horsepower V6 between its fenders costs $2,920 less. The Journey got excluded from the deal. When Dodge announced the program, it explained it had put 485 million horsepower in the hands of enthusiasts since bringing back the Charger and the Challenger in 2005 and 2008, respectively, and it hoped to break the 500 million threshold by the end of 2019. Mission accomplished. Putting horsepower in the bargain bin lured a surprising number of buyers into showrooms. Dodge notably sold 18,031 examples of the Challenger during the third quarter of 2019, a record-setting figure that represents a 21% increase over the same time period in 2018. The Challenger was more popular than the Ford Mustang and the Chevrolet Camaro, its main rivals. The Charger posted its best third quarter in 13 years with 26,060 sales, a 46% increase over the third quarter of 2019, which is remarkable considering its age. Finally, 2019 might end up being the Durango's best year since 2005. As of the third quarter, year-to-date sales are up 6% to 52,622. Enthusiasts who want to configure the Challenger, Charger, or Durango of their dreams need to act quickly, because Dodge will stop taking orders for 2019 model-year cars on October 23 — that's this Wednesday. Those willing to take home a car from a dealer's inventory will be able to claim the Power Dollars rebate until January 2, 2020. 

Tempted by the Demon, dealers find way to thwart Dodge, jack up prices

It's the eternal story of short supply, big demand - and car dealers eager to exploit that dynamic, especially when it involves a hot car. A few weeks ago, when Dodge announced that it devised a way to attempt to prevent price-gouging on those 840-horsepower 2018 Dodge Demons, you just knew the dealers would dream up some devilish end-run. And sure enough, despite the manufacturer's best intentions, Demon order slots are being offered with five-figure markups. Here's how things were supposed to work: With a run of just 3,000 cars, Dodge knew it had to do something to address dealer greed, so it announced an allocation system: Cars purchased at or below the $86,090 MSRP would be the first orders filled and delivered. If a dealer sells an allocated Demon for more than sticker, that car goes to the end of the line for production and delivery. Dodge also ensured dealers wouldn't stockpile or hoard Demons by limiting the number of orders a dealer can submit and allocating cars to dealers based on how many Challenger and Charger Hellcats the dealer has sold. But Automotive News reports that some dealers are using intermediaries to auction off their Demon allocations on eBay. Three sellers last week said they were representing dealers in South Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana, and auctioning off the right to buy a car in one of the priority spots at MSRP. The minimum bid for the right to buy the car at sticker? From $10,000-25,000. And previous transactions on eBay might have run as high as $75,000. So early buyers are definitely paying an upcharge - but it's a thing apart from the bottom line on the order form, where it appears they are paying MSRP. In other words, a scheme that violates the spirit of what FCA tried to do. A source at FCA told Automotive News the automaker was monitoring the practice but could do little to stop it. And the report quoted a Hellcat owner who said his dealership was ignoring Dodge's strictures altogether and offered him a Demon at MSRP plus $60K. But take heart. Not all car dealers are cynically opportunistic - or rather, some see an opportunity for doing good, not making buck. Automotive News says Bill Marsh Chrysler in Traverse City, Mich., plans to sell its single allocated Demon for $1 under MSRP - and is auctioning off the right to buy it, with the dealership's existing customers eligible to bid. The auction's proceeds will benefit four Traverse City charities.

Dodge Viper to out-Hell the Hellcat with supercharged V10?

The Viper wouldn't be the Viper if it wasn't the most powerful model under the Chrysler umbrella. But with the arrival of the Hellcat engine in the Dodge Charger and Challenger, the Viper has fallen behind in the bragging rights department: where the new supercharged V8 produces 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque, the naturally aspirated V10 offers "only" 640 hp and 600 lb-ft - gargantuan output figures by almost any other standard, but crucially behind on the SRT power scale. Conner Avenue is going to have to do something about that.
Although the Hellcat's engine reportedly won't fit under the Viper's hood, SRT is now rumored to have another trick up its sleeve: supercharge the existing V10. According to the Pentastar performance enthusiasts at allpar.com, Chrysler has already taken delivery of the first such prototype engines so that it can begin the process of fitting it into an upgraded Viper.
The spooled ten-pot is tipped to produce around 800 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. More than that and the Viper's drivetrain, chassis and bodywork would have to be substantially reworked. Though beefier transmissions are available, fitting them would reportedly set off a domino-game of changes required to handle the added torque. Which may be something Chrysler would be prepared to do for the next-generation model, but in the meantime, 800 hp could prove enough to put the Viper back atop the Mopar performance ladder where it belongs, and give it an edge against the new Corvette Z06 to rekindle sales.