The New SRT brand

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SuperShouden

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SuperShouden
FIAT announced that the new Viper will NOT be a Dodge, but rather an SRT. The new brand, according to the official website:

Street and Racing Technology represents the highest echelon of engineering expertise. Unabashedly radical, SRT vehicles are allergic to compromise. We craft well-rounded, future-forward Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles built to reward drivers who are brave enough to drive what they love.
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SRT is also the new home of ALL the high-performance vehicles across Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. That means, the 2012 300C SRT8, Jeep SRT8, Challenger SRT8, Charger SRT8 AND the 2010 Viper SRT10 are all property of SRT now.

Now, I heard that Dodge pulled their support of the Grand Am Challenger program at the last minute. The shift to SRT could be the reason behind this as the Grand Am rules don't mention the SRT8 model, and the Viper name is probably now property of SRT, which is why the Viper is still running.

So...this will be an interesting year. I am curious if we'll see a Dart SRT4 and an SRT6 somewhere.
 
I actually like this idea, Dodge has been my favorite manufacturer for a long while now. I don't like a few thing's they have done recently (my poor 300) but this and the Ram branding have me excited.
 
I'm thinking that SRT will also be Chrysler's racing division. Most of FIAT's companies are racing:

- Fiat - Rally, Road Racing
- Ferrari - Various (Grand Am, Le Mans, Ferrari Cup, FIA GT3, etc.)
- Alfa Romeo - not racing currently but formerly Rally and Touring Cars
- Maserati - FIA GT4, formerly FIA GT1
- Lancia - Not racing, currently, but they built the new Stratos and look to be entering that...no word on the Delta's Rally status
- Zastava - Road Racing and Rally
- Iveco - Super Truck Racing
- Dodge - Currently only Grand Am and NASCAR
- Jeep - Cross country rallies (Dakar, Baja 1000, etc)
- Chrysler - Not currently racing but formerly NASCAR and Superstars Racing Series.

Since racing is a part of Chrysler, I wouldn't be surprised to see the new 300 and 200 in racing at some point along with more Dodges. Too bad the Alfa 8c never raced...But, if they put SRT in charge of it, that puts less stress on Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep.
 
SuperShouden
I'm thinking that SRT will also be Chrysler's racing division. Most of FIAT's companies are racing:

- Lancia - Not racing, currently, but they built the new Stratos and look to be entering that...no word on the Delta's Rally status
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What new Stratos? Lancia had nothing to do(IIRC) with the, now dead, ferrari powered/based stratos. Is there another new stratos?
 
Ram.... Nastruck and Tractor pulling... if that still goes on... I DO have a feeling Dodges Dart will enter touring car races that the Cruze currently races in. But i dont see SRT doing this... Racing is Mopars Job... they already in Nascar, Baja, NHRA and Drift.
 
eSZee
What new Stratos? Lancia had nothing to do(IIRC) with the, now dead, ferrari powered/based stratos. Is there another new stratos?
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there is the new one... what part of new dont you understand?

New-Lancia-Stratos-1.jpg
 
Initially I wasn't too excited about all the branches from Dodge being reconstituted as their own brands (Rams, Vipers, etc. are still Dodges to me - at least until I can get my tongue swung over!).

But if they're as serious about the engineering side of this reorganization as they are the marketing side I think all of these vehicles will benefit from this so long as Fiat puts the proper funds in place.

I'm getting more excited about the prospect of a whole line of SRT cars though, especially the return of the Viper.
 
tribolik
there is the new one... what part of new dont you understand?
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I guess the part where it says the car isn't a Lancia. Or was it the part where the project has been scrapped. No sure yet.:sly:
 
The New Stratos is DOA... thanks to Ferrari but i can see it brought back by using the Alfa 4C platform and its engine.
 
eSZee
I guess the part where it says the car isn't a Lancia. Or was it the part where the project has been scrapped. No sure yet.:sly:
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Only because Ferrari decided to be douches about it. Also....if Ferrari doesn't want cars to be produced by companies that worked with them...then...what about the Ferrari V8s in the Maseratis and the new Viper that got more suggestions from Ferrari about the engine?

Whatever. I didn't realize it had been scrapped. But..the Delta is still there, so Lancia could still participating in rally again.

I would not be surprised to see the Dart in Touring cars and maybe Dodge's return to Grand Am ST class.

But...SRT has me excited. It'll be interesting to see what FIAT has them do.
 
Th project was comissioned from Pininfarina by a Stratos enthusiast with no real factory support. What's so hard about research these days?...
 
I read the website. But anyway, this isn't a "WTF happened to the new Stratos" thread. This is an SRT brand thread. Back on topic.
 
I'm wondering if the SRT version of the, let's say the Charger, will still carry a Dodge badge or just a SRT badge. I just think it would be weird seeing SRT where a Chrysler or Dodge badge should be.
 
At the moment, all the SRT vehicles carry their parent company moniker. On the SRT site, it lists the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, Dodge Challenger SRT8, Chrysler 300 SRT8 and so on. However, that could possible change when they get ready to release the 2013 models. Then, all the SRT model might drop the parent company badge. Furthermore, because they'll be SRT owned instead of Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, that suggests that SRT could tune and tweak them however they want. So, they could have the Challenger SRT10 or a new Ram SRT10. With SRT on their own, I think we shall start seeing some cool cars. Maybe the baby-Viper will finally be released.
 
250hp, turbo charged 2.4L, Dart....yeah I'd want that. Plus the Focus ST needs some stateside competition.
 
SuperShouden
Only because Ferrari decided to be douches about it.
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Ferrari doesn't want to supply the engine to a car they have no say in. Nothing "douche" about running their business the way they choose to.
Also....if Ferrari doesn't want cars to be produced by companies that worked with them...then...what about the Ferrari V8s in the Maseratis
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Because Ferrari has control over Maserati & has had control over them since the early 2000's. They can control how much power Maserati's vehicles have & how developed they are in comparison to their own cars. It's why they allow Maserati to sell vehicles in their dealerships without conflicting models.
and the new Viper that got more suggestions from Ferrari about the engine?
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Giving advice to Dodge is not the same has having a hand in development.
 
SuperShouden
FIAT has control over Ferrari, now though.
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FIAT has control over Ferrari, but anyone with any sense knows full well that FIAT will not tell Montezemolo & Ferrari's son how to run the company. Ferrari is an extremely tight-lipped company & does not like to share its technology with anyone until it has been established in their own cars nor do they like to conform to any current trends (i.e. hybrids & what not).

In short, FIAT knows better than to tell Ferrari how it should run. They have a perfect formula that works for them & FIAT will not disturb it.
 
SRT brand is dead!
Chrysler Group Announces Leadership Changes
05.06.2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.
In conjunction with the outlined plans for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Chrysler Group LLC today announced that the SRT family of vehicles will be consolidated under the Dodge brand. Tim Kuniskis will lead this effort as he continues his role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dodge Brand and head of the Company’s Fleet Operations. Ralph Gilles continues as the Senior Vice President of Product Design and President and CEO of Motorsports. The move is effective immediately.

“I want to thank Ralph for his dedication to the SRT brand,” said Sergio Marchionne, Chairman and CEO, Chrysler Group LLC. “Under Ralph’s leadership, the SRT brand expanded its vehicle lineup to include more highly customized models and received numerous automotive awards and distinctions.”
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http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do?id=15625&mid=1
 
Well that only lasted a little while.

I must admit, I still tended to think of the Viper in particular as a Dodge. SRT seemed more like an in-house performance division like AMG, M, SVT, V, etc rather than a brand. I don't think either move, the creation of SRT nor this consolidation, is a bad move. The creation of it was odd but the cars performed and sold well.

Meh.
 
This is not good for brand image. Chrysler is supposed to look like they know what they're doing if they want people's confidence.
 
Zenith
This is not good for brand image. Chrysler is supposed to look like they know what they're doing if they want people's confidence.
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Indeed. I'm also not terribly happy that Chrysler is going to go mainstream (especially when it was supposed to be Cadillac 2.0 a few years ago), but that doesn't necessarily have to end poorly.

I think that product quality can overcome this shuffling about as long as this is the end of it. I'm glad to see SRT as a brand is dead though. Bringing Chrysler down and shifting Dodge to performance hits the differentiation I think Chrysler needed, just in a way I didn't think of.
 
Well my day was bad, but at least I can relish in the fact that I was right about Chrysler's issues on the scale I claimed even though a few on here wanted to tar and feather me for saying so.
 
How is this a bad thing when the only actual SRT was the Viper? I have never heard anyone refer to their Charger as an SRT directly, but as a Dodge SRT. Same for the rest of them. I don't think Chrysler is in trouble, but as long as they didn't have separate HQs, sales, and marketing staffs entirely, it will be another attempt to step out that didn't work, like Imperial, DeSoto, Continental, Geo, and of course Edsel.
 
2 years 4 months. Pretty much the life span of SRT. It could have done worse but it only had one model really.
 
BKGlover
How is this a bad thing when the only actual SRT was the Viper? I have never heard anyone refer to their Charger as an SRT directly, but as a Dodge SRT. Same for the rest of them. I don't think Chrysler is in trouble, but as long as they didn't have separate HQs, sales, and marketing staffs entirely, it will be another attempt to step out that didn't work, like Imperial, DeSoto, Continental, Geo, and of course Edsel.
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You may not have heard them do it but Chrysler did and their site even showed a product line up under the SRT banner with all SRT cars. They were considered SRT and not Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler...to them. To the rest of the world it was Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler. And they did have an SRT staff and they were trying to gear sales under the SRT brand to get it to take off as their performance line and it didn't work. There has been other notable evidence in most of the chrysler threads that proves Chrysler is in somewhat dire areas, but nothing permanent.

http://www.drivesrt.com/

To buy or set up a test drive online this was the only place you could do it for these vehicles, the other respective websites didn't do this. This would show that they were trying to promote a line up in SRT even if it was taking from their other brands in a AMG fashion.
 
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Well now...that clears things up a bit. I still question why they felt the need to do this, and why SRT? Mopar would have made more sense to me, but having pretty much everything rely on one car and a website seems quite knuckle-headed. Sounds now like this may impact them like Edsel did Ford way back when, or worse.
 
Hard to say. Edsel was more of having no place due to pricing and aesthetically unpleasantness.
SRT was pretty much whatever car it was (sans Viper) just with SRT badging.
 

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