Chrysler Extinguishes Firepower
Chrysler Extinguishes Firepower
Chrysler Group is letting the flame go out on its Firepower concept, the Hemi-powered “grand tourer” that stoked performance ambitions for the auto maker’s core brand.
“We’re not doing Firepower,” Trevor Creed, senior vice president-design, says. “We just couldn’t find a viable way to do it.”
Reeling from the effects of bloated inventories, which led to a $1.5 billion third-quarter loss and an internal drive to shave $1,000 per vehicle-production cost, Chrysler is refocused on profitability.
Against this backdrop, the auto maker has said no product will enter its pipeline unless it has realistic profit potential. This approach killed the Jeep Gladiator concept earlier in the year, which debuted alongside the Firepower at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
And it even caused the Dodge Challenger concept – a can’t-miss product in the eyes of most industry observers – to undergo rigorous scrutiny before the auto maker declared it would build the muscle car in 2008.
The sleek, stylish Firepower features a 6.1L Hemi V-8 developed by Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technologies (SRT) performance group.
“It was a very striking concept,” Creed tells Ward’s, adding the Firepower shared no significant components with any other product in the Chrysler family. “(It) was built from the ground up,” Creed says. “And we needed to do that to get the unique look of (the) vehicle.”
But creating concept cars is “easy” compared with the task of engineering and building a production version that will succeed in the market, he adds.
The move to kill the Firepower doesn’t surprise industry experts.
“That makes sense to me,” says AutoPacific Inc. analyst Stephanie Brinley. To generate sufficient earnings from the Firepower, Chrysler would have been forced to charge “Viper money,” she says, referring to the 500-hp Dodge Viper SRT10 supercar that starts at $82,745.
Speculation by United Auto Workers union leaders called for the Firepower to be built alongside the Viper at Chrysler’s Conner Ave. assembly plant in Detroit.
“A (Chrysler) halo coupe is clever, but they’ve still got to fix some other issues,” Brinley says, noting she was impressed by the Firepower’s styling – interior and exterior – and its Ocean Deep Blue color scheme.
The car succeeded in generating buzz, but reaction was mixed. Last summer, when Firepower production seemed plausible, bloggers were upbeat about the design, with one poster calling it “awesome.”
Industry observers predicted Firepower's base price would be close to Dodge Viper.
However, others took note of Chrysler’s precarious financial position and declared potential Firepower production to be a “dumb move.”
Without the Firepower, Chrysler is left with the Crossfire as its flagship sports car. Built in Germany by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH using numerous components from the Mercedes-Benz SLK, the Crossfire is refreshed for ’07 after its ’06 run was cut short.
The 2-seater, with an anticipated starting price of about $31,000, features a new monochromatic look and many added safety features, such as passenger-seat occupant-classification technology that governs airbag deployment.
“We’re not doing Firepower,” Trevor Creed, senior vice president-design, says. “We just couldn’t find a viable way to do it.”
Reeling from the effects of bloated inventories, which led to a $1.5 billion third-quarter loss and an internal drive to shave $1,000 per vehicle-production cost, Chrysler is refocused on profitability.
Against this backdrop, the auto maker has said no product will enter its pipeline unless it has realistic profit potential. This approach killed the Jeep Gladiator concept earlier in the year, which debuted alongside the Firepower at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
And it even caused the Dodge Challenger concept – a can’t-miss product in the eyes of most industry observers – to undergo rigorous scrutiny before the auto maker declared it would build the muscle car in 2008.
The sleek, stylish Firepower features a 6.1L Hemi V-8 developed by Chrysler’s Street and Racing Technologies (SRT) performance group.
“It was a very striking concept,” Creed tells Ward’s, adding the Firepower shared no significant components with any other product in the Chrysler family. “(It) was built from the ground up,” Creed says. “And we needed to do that to get the unique look of (the) vehicle.”
But creating concept cars is “easy” compared with the task of engineering and building a production version that will succeed in the market, he adds.
The move to kill the Firepower doesn’t surprise industry experts.
“That makes sense to me,” says AutoPacific Inc. analyst Stephanie Brinley. To generate sufficient earnings from the Firepower, Chrysler would have been forced to charge “Viper money,” she says, referring to the 500-hp Dodge Viper SRT10 supercar that starts at $82,745.
Speculation by United Auto Workers union leaders called for the Firepower to be built alongside the Viper at Chrysler’s Conner Ave. assembly plant in Detroit.
“A (Chrysler) halo coupe is clever, but they’ve still got to fix some other issues,” Brinley says, noting she was impressed by the Firepower’s styling – interior and exterior – and its Ocean Deep Blue color scheme.
The car succeeded in generating buzz, but reaction was mixed. Last summer, when Firepower production seemed plausible, bloggers were upbeat about the design, with one poster calling it “awesome.”
Industry observers predicted Firepower's base price would be close to Dodge Viper.
However, others took note of Chrysler’s precarious financial position and declared potential Firepower production to be a “dumb move.”
Without the Firepower, Chrysler is left with the Crossfire as its flagship sports car. Built in Germany by Wilhelm Karmann GmbH using numerous components from the Mercedes-Benz SLK, the Crossfire is refreshed for ’07 after its ’06 run was cut short.
The 2-seater, with an anticipated starting price of about $31,000, features a new monochromatic look and many added safety features, such as passenger-seat occupant-classification technology that governs airbag deployment.
Re: Chrysler Extinguishes Firepower
That's too bad about the Firepower and now I am concerned about the Challenger because that one was definitely on the to buy list in 2008. I wonder since they are dropping the Firepower and calling the Crossfire their " flagship sports car" in the article if they are reconsidering not discontinuing it next year as planned. Too bad the economy tanked this past year, hopefully it will start to turn around this spring and people will start spending money again.
Senior Member
Re: Chrysler Extinguishes Firepower
Originally Posted by JM Piquet
bloggers were upbeat about the design, with one poster calling it “awesome.”
(thank you mr. 13 year old)
I never thought it would make it to the street, it just doesn't fit just doesn't fit the market and the company.
(XF remains the Chrysler sports car offering) The 2-seater, with an anticipated starting price of about $31,000, features a new monochromatic look and many added safety features, such as passenger-seat occupant-classification technology that governs airbag deployment.
(thank you mr. 13 year old)
I never thought it would make it to the street, it just doesn't fit just doesn't fit the market and the company.
(XF remains the Chrysler sports car offering) The 2-seater, with an anticipated starting price of about $31,000, features a new monochromatic look and many added safety features, such as passenger-seat occupant-classification technology that governs airbag deployment.
Tweek interior dimensions to accommodate larger (horitonally/vertically) drivers
Loose the staggered wheels,
Put some sort of donut spare in car
Make the standard/limited powerplant @ 250 HP and you've got a nice car niche car that will have a place with young and older drivers.
Target $30K(ish)...that seems to be the sweet spot
Re: Chrysler Extinguishes Firepower
Originally Posted by Sennaspirit
If they'd just put a bit of thought into next gen XF, I'm sure they'd have a solid performer in the market. I went to a holiday part the other night, and a bunch of people were admiring the car asking "wow, what is that car"? It still makes me laugh.
Tweek interior dimensions to accommodate larger (horitonally/vertically) drivers
Loose the staggered wheels,
Put some sort of donut spare in car
Make the standard/limited powerplant @ 250 HP and you've got a nice car niche car that will have a place with young and older drivers.
Target $30K(ish)...that seems to be the sweet spot
Tweek interior dimensions to accommodate larger (horitonally/vertically) drivers
Loose the staggered wheels,
Put some sort of donut spare in car
Make the standard/limited powerplant @ 250 HP and you've got a nice car niche car that will have a place with young and older drivers.
Target $30K(ish)...that seems to be the sweet spot
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