Challenger Shifts Its Power Pitch

With high gas prices, Chrysler recasts new muscle car's image to styling, driver's needs.

Eric Morath / The Detroit News

Admire the 2009 Dodge Challenger's retro styling and sub-$22,000 starting price -- but please don't ask if it's got a Hemi.

Even as Chrysler LLC brings back the iconic 1970s-era muscle car, the automaker is attempting to shift its image from pure power to muscle-styling-meets fuel-efficient-affordability.

That message takes shape in the 2009 Dodge Challenger SE, a V-6 version that is part of the car's mass market lineup coming this fall. A trio of Challengers follows the sell-out success of the limited edition 2008 Challenger SRT8, which along with its 6.1-liter V-8 engine, hit streets in recent weeks.

"Our image can't be about monster Hemi engines and smoking tires," said Mike Accavitti, director of the Dodge brand, said Monday at a media event to show off the full Challenger lineup. "It's about knowing your car looks good, and that you look good driving in it."

Accavitti said the Dodge brand, the automaker's best-selling, will maintain its fun-to-drive "Grab life" mantra, but evolve the pitch toward utility and styling, not just horsepower.

"It will be the guys taking their Dakota (pickup) fishing or cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in a Challenger with the passenger's foot out the window," he said. "You don't want to be seen as the gas-guzzling brand.

"You're not going to see the Hemi guys, God love 'em."

Earlier this decade when Chrysler brought back the V-8 Hemi engine, which a motor NASCAR once banned because it was too powerful, the automaker ran ads where a couple of country boys pulled up to Chrysler products and asked: "That thing got a Hemi?"

The answer remains "yes" for many Chrysler vehicles, as Hemis are available in everything from the Dodge Ram pickup to the Chrysler 300C sedan.

The new push on the base Challenger illustrates Dodges efforts to move beyond the Hemi mantra. The vehicle will start at $21,995 and boasts 25 mile per gallon fuel economy on the highway -- a 39 percent improvement over the SRT8 version.

The 250-horsepower Challenger SE appeals to younger buyers and those with more limited incomes and greater concern about gas prices, Accavitti said.

Struggle to redefine image

As Dodge launches the Challenger and Ram pickup later this year, it faces a struggle to redefine its image, said Todd Turner, president of California-based brand consulting firm Car Concepts.

"Dodge successfully created a brand image of in-your-face power, and now that is the opposite direction from where the market is going," he said. Dodge "can call it strength instead of power, but I'm not so sure they can do it quickly -- and they needed to do it yesterday."

Turner said, at the moment, Dodge has little choice but to recast its image. The truck-heavy brand lacks both a subcompact and hybrid car, both of which are selling well as gas prices top $4 per gallon.

"It's great that Dodge at least recognizes that they need a new image," he said. "But they should have had some inkling of where gas prices were going."

Another analyst believes the Challenger will remain a hit.

It's Dodge's lineup of big trucks and SUVs that have pegged the brand as a gas-guzzler, not the high-performance Challenger, said Stephanie Brinley, an analyst with AutoPacific Inc.

"People understand (Challenger) is a high performance, niche vehicle," she said. "That's unlike a Dodge Durango, which is a gas-guzzler, but is intended to be a mass market vehicle."

Gearheads will find plenty of Hemi power in higher-end versions of the Challenger.

The 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T starts at $29,995 and has a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engine. The 375-horsepower machine will be available in a manual and will be touched up with 18-inch aluminum wheels and a rear spoiler.

Accavitti said he expects the R/T to be the highest-volume seller of the three.

The 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 starts at $39,995 and is the same as the 425-horsepower 2008 limited edition, but with some new features, including a pistol-grip manual shifter and new color choices, including High-Performance Red and B5 Blue, a specialty reincarnation of a 1970s hue. The company has 7,000 pre-orders for the 2009 Challenger.

Accavitti said the Challenger might supplant the Dodge Viper sports car as the automaker's "halo" vehicle -- a car that draws customers to the brand, even though they often buy other vehicles.

The future of the Conner Avenue Assembly plant, which makes the $87,000, 8.4L V-10 powered Viper, is in doubt as it was one of three Chrysler assembly plants not to receive future product guarantees in last fall's labor contract. Accavitti would only say that Chrysler is "looking at it" as far as Viper's future.

2009 Challenger

The muscle car's three models:
Dodge Challenger SE

·            Engine: 3.5-liter V-6

·            Horsepower: 250

·            Manual option: No

·            0-60 miles per hour: 7.8 seconds

·            Starting price: $21,995
Dodge Challenger R/T

·            Engine: 5.7-liter V-8 Hemi

·            Horsepower: 375

·            Manual option: Yes

·            0-60 miles per hour: 5.5 seconds

·            Starting price: $29,995
Dodge Challenger SRT-8

·            Engine: 6.1-liter V-8 Hemi

·            Horsepower: 425

·            Manual option: Yes

·            0-60 miles per hour: 4.9 seconds

·            Starting price: $39,995