Dodge in australia

[acemotorsport]

i saw a ad on 7 for a comp for the dodge caliber and i checked to see if if they have a website and the do ( www.dodge.com.au (http://www.dodge.com.au) ) does anyone know if the challenger and the charger are coming to aus?

[john14]

Hopefully, no Dodge cars are coming to Australia (but unfortunately, we all know they are coming :rolleyes: )

[Blitz_]

Hopefully, no Dodge cars are coming to Australia (but unfortunately, we all know they are coming :rolleyes: )


Thats overlyharsh bmw fanboy, Dodge are not exactly the most exciting, nor technically proficeint cars, but they diversify the choice for consumers nonetheless, and the Challenger is a terrific concept that has been well recieved internationally. Their other cars dont light my fire, but hey, not every manufacturer can design cars to all of our tastes.

[SlickHolden]

Dodge Chrysler like Toyota and Lexus like KFC same shit different bucket:p.
But i seen that Chrysler waggon 300c thing the same guy that drove all the other new ones getting around.

[2ndclasscitizen]

There's a Calibur in Canberra. It doesn't look that bad, but it's kinda weird cause I've never seen it up close and from where've I've seen it it looked really big

[fpv_gtho]

We're at the whims of everyone else as far as the Charger and Challenger goes. IIRC, they dont make the Charger in RHD like they do the 300C.

[HSVLVR]

It would be good if the Challenger does come to Australia. I really like the look of it. The Hemi is nice too.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Well, if the Camaro comes, they definately should and even the next Monaro should be reason enough. I bet there's plenty of die-hard Mopar fans here, and even just car people in general would be in interested, it just looks fantastc

[fpv_gtho]

I'd be interested to see how the costs goes. The Mustang's Ford brought over were way overpriced, although they were modified by Tickford Australia, not taken from an existing RHD supply which would change things alot. If they got them here for around $60K with a decent enough V8, IMO it'd be a success.

[2ndclasscitizen]

I don't see any reason why it would be another Mustang-esque flop. It's based on the same platform as the 300C so factory RHD, no expensive ADR process as it also uses the same engines (the 5.7 and 6.1 HEMIs :D) which I haven't read anything bad about. With the way the 300C is priced I really see no reason why they couldn't get a 5.7 version at around $60k (or whatever something at that price bracket now is selling for in ~2 years time) and the big 6.1 version at around a HSV Coupe prive (between $80k and $100k)

[fpv_gtho]

Well being on the 300C's platform isnt enough, as i said before we dont get Chargers as IIRC theyre only made in LHD and thats closer than anything to the 300C.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Good point, but is that the Charger can't be made in RHD, or just isn't? Plus I'm pretty sure it only looks different to the 300C, nothing mechanical

[fpv_gtho]

I think its just that they arent. We get 300C's from Austria, im not too sure where the LHD ones come from.

[2ndclasscitizen]

I'd imagine the US ones are built in the US, and the Austrian plant builds the Euro LHD cars

[fpv_gtho]

It would make sense like that.

Just had a look on Wikipedia and theyve got assembly location as Brampton Ontario, so the Canadian plant must be LHD.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Ah yeah, I remember when reading about the Challenger that the Canadian plant was at max production with the Charger/300C

[fpv_gtho]

According to this http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v4/sub/MarketingPage?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM. 20060918.w-chrysler19%2FBNStory%2FBusiness%2Fhome&ord=1160045065510&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true they'll be halting production as demand has died down. Not exactly what Chrysler needs but perhaps it opens up other avenues for future products.

[2ndclasscitizen]

So they've stopped making the 300C/Charger altogether (I couldn't get to that page) just because demand has slowed? That's really weird

[fpv_gtho]

Theyre shutting the plant down for 2 weeks. It sounds like a similar thing Mitsubishi have had to do with the 380. Theyve at times had to shut down as demand has been way under predictions.

[mikmak]

So they've stopped making the 300C/Charger altogether (I couldn't get to that page) just because demand has slowed? That's really weird

Thats what happens when your design is based on fads. It seems most of the Chrysler/ Dodge line up is exactly that. They shouldnt suffer too much here because their market share will never be big enoug to be anymore than niche vehicles.

The 300C is poorly made. Open the drivers door and look where the front quarter panel meets the front of the door. A nice plastic blank. Perfect for attracting and holding water. Under the bonnet is the same thing between the grille and the negine. I think it is a hang over from transitioning the 300C bod onto a chassis that was designed fro a different car (ie the old merc). The more often I see a 300C the less impact it has.

[#3 Tasman Bloke]

i saw a ad on 7 for a comp for the dodge caliber and i checked to see if if they have a website and the do ( www.dodge.com.au (http://www.dodge.com.au) ) does anyone know if the challenger and the charger are coming to aus?
Challenger is a 80% chance of coming, Charger has been confirmed NOTcoming to Australia but will go to other countries with LHD. Damn! But the Nitro is coming in January and is a small hatchback. Also, the crappy Sebring is coming. Shizenthausen.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

The caliber does look huge - it must be about the size of a small 4WD.

The ad's are quite humourous - they focus group the car with a load of Sesame street-like characters and they get frightened - "it scares the S**T out of me!" quivers one.

Good ad, ok car.

[SlickHolden]

It's strange the Australian jurnos bag holden and ford for large cars in a time with high fuel prices. But welcome these large tanks ? Weird.