Chrysler made the surprising announcement late yesterday that production has resumed at its Conner Avenue Dodge Viper assembly plant in Detroit – the first such facility to reopen since all of the automaker’s operations were idled in May before the Fiat acquisition was completed.
Chrysler had been attempting to jettison the Viper line, including the assembly plant, but few parties had shown much interest. Dodge says it has built just 61 Vipers this year, as sales of the high-performance icon have struggled due to the crippled new car industry.
The automaker had indicated earlier that it would resume production at the majority of its assembly plants by the end of June, but it appears there is no public timetable.
“At this time, we cannot give exact timing in regards to the start of production at our other manufacturing facilities,” the automaker said in a statement released to the media.
06/16, 10:31 AM
posted by:
F50
I hope they continue building it, the new ACR is a beast!
06/16, 10:49 AM
posted by:
teahead
They needa re-design.
Bring back the menacing looks of the 1st gen GTS (96-02) and give it some decent interior. Too bad there’s not budget for it.
06/16, 10:57 AM
posted by:
JakeK66
Good, they start building the best model first, it’s how it should be.
Next they should start up the Challenger plant and finally the Ram plant and STOP there, that’s all they need for now…
06/16, 11:01 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
“Look! It’s moving. It’s sha–it’s… it’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive! It’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive! It’s ALIVE!”
06/16, 11:02 AM
posted by:
Borat
Jake, if that’s all they need, they might as well close doors. You can’t make money with 3 low volume models, unless you are Rolls. BTW, Rolls failed as a standalone company with 3 extremely expensive models. Life is a bitch.
06/16, 11:28 AM
posted by:
JakeK66
Well, thing is Borat – by what I said they still have tons of inventory of the rest for about, a year, so that is all they need right now. Maybe some minivans, that’s about it.
The Ram is a low volume model? Could have fooled me there…
06/16, 12:07 PM
posted by:
wideopenthrottle
YES! ACR lives on!
06/16, 12:12 PM
posted by:
Borat
Jake, you are correct, slip of the tongue. Still 3 models can’t bring enough volume of customers to sustain profitable operations. Chrysler needs few high volume models.
06/16, 12:24 PM
posted by:
shaver
Ram is not low volume.
06/16, 12:38 PM
posted by:
A4
phew
06/16, 1:11 PM
posted by:
Rafa LL
Whoot!
06/16, 1:52 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
what does it matter to you guys if it lives or dies, was it on your shopping lists? unlikely…unless this car makes money, which it currently doesn’t, then this move doesn’t seem like the best first step for a company right out of bankruptcy…no time for emotional attachments, imo…
06/16, 2:08 PM
posted by:
Payton Byrd
@looniewingagenda
Actually, some of us do have a Viper on our shopping list. Wait, it’s not a Prius so you don’t want it manufactured anyways.
06/16, 2:16 PM
posted by:
Borat
Payton, by the time your children will go to college, state school tuition will be in the neighborhood of 25-30K/year. Unless you planning for them to graduate lettuce picking academy, you should be stashing away 25K per year and making sure it grows in value much faster then inflation. With all due respect, I think VIper is your wet dream (maybe even used one). Politics aside, lefty made a good point here.
06/16, 2:59 PM
posted by:
spg900
Keep it coming Borat!
06/16, 3:11 PM
posted by:
KarLoveBoy88
I guess they finally realized that there is still some spark in they’re much beloved Viper brand. Thank God!
06/16, 4:13 PM
posted by:
2TellUTheTruth
They need to keep all their plants (that don’t make the 300, charger, challenger, wranglers, new ram p/u, maybe just 1 of their generic minivans, n the 2011 jgc) in permanent idle until they’re fully redesigned [for the better]!
06/16, 5:14 PM
posted by:
sprockkets
“Dodge says it has built just 61 Vipers this year, as sales of the high-performance icon have struggled due to the crippled new car industry.”
Sooooo, opening a factory that will build 10 Vipers a month is something to be proud of? Oh, how many people does it take to make a Viper every three days?
Good to know that Chrysler is still ****ing stupid as ever, opening first the factory that will bleed cash the most! Maybe this time you will really die!
06/16, 6:08 PM
posted by:
andy
the ACR is a beast no doubt, but i’d still go ZR1 over it, i just hate the look of the viper… looks like a toy/ beefed up miata… my neighbor bought a Viper just before the ZR1 was made official/ went mainstream, the look of disappointment on his face when i talk to him about the two is almost comical.
06/16, 9:17 PM
posted by:
Borat
sprockkets, great news: now we can blame FIAT and Italians for stupidity.
06/16, 9:39 PM
posted by:
sprockkets
They already are stupid, stupid for buying Chrysler. Oh sure, it’s good to keep the RAM around and parts of Jeep. But there are easier ways of getting FIATS in this country than buying a dead brand.
06/16, 11:18 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
YEAH!!! Take *that* motherf*ckers!
All you assholes who wanted the Viper dead, suck it! :p The best damn sports car is still alive and it just won’t die, ever! 
06/17, 6:22 AM
posted by:
carstuff
Unfortunately this just shows that Chrysler has lots of stock on hand on everything BUT the Viper. Hopefully soon enough other plants will open as the days supply gets closer to optimum.
06/17, 2:28 PM
posted by:
sprockkets
Yes, because every dealer should stock a viper on the lot, when 61 have been sold in 6 months.
How many dealers does Chrysler have? Over a thousand? You are dumb.