Originally Posted by Maxwell
Yes it would be great for Chrysler, but they don't have GM money to splurge on a niche car, like you stated the Viper sales are down, thats already a red flag. Chrysler's investors aren't looking to risk anymore money on a low production car, it's silly. They need something that will attract masses of people with middle class incomes. What Chrysler really needs is an electric car that isn't a stupid looking golf cart, they need something that's gonna be a big hit like the EV1 and Prius. Super cars are in Chryslers past, it's time to make a move and not waste what little time the company has left in the automotive industry. It's time to compete with Toyota, they are the big dog now, there is no point in messing with GM. Just focus on Toyotas customer base and win them over.
Creating the Firepower would not need that much total investment, the chassis and drivetrain already exist. With Daimler keeping 20% of Chrysler for the joint effort vehicles (Sprinter) the old rumor of the Mclaren SLR sharing the platform with the Viper and one more vehicle may still come to fruition. They could easily sell enough Firepowers to make it profitable, especially at the 80-90K price range. Cerberus has More than enough money to bankroll the Firepower, along with the Demon. There IS a market for this car, and along with the new '09 Viper (Rumored to have ~ 700 HP The 600 HP '08 as a stop gap fill in).
As to the EV1 and Prius being hits, The EV1 project has already been scrapped (How much did that whole thing cost GM?), and the Prius is being heavily discounted, along with complaints from owners about quality issues, not meeting the EPA mileage (By 10 MPG!!) and the cost of replacement batteries.
The biggest downside to this is it would probably kill any chance of the Crossfire becoming more valuable in the future.