Dodge Charger Market

[MarauderMike]

I was listening to John McElroy on WWJ Radio here in Detroit today, for those of you that don't know John is a Automotive reporter who also hosts two automotive tv shows here in the Motor City, he had a recent interview with a Chrysler excutive about the new Dodge Charger. The point that caught my interest in this report is that the Charger is not aimed at the young market, but it's target market is 40-59, does this ring a bell with anyone? Steve Babcock had this market precisely picked out for the Marauder. Let's compare here for a minute, the Marauder is a 4 door family sedan with a performance package. The Chrysler 300C and Dodge Charger are also four door sedans with a performance package. Needless to say the 300C has met and exceeded sales expectations and the Charger is on it's way, we all know the fate of the Marauder :( . So why the Chrysler success? My thoughts are this, 1)"Hemi", it's all in the name and has been a proven to be one of the best marketing ideas that Chrysler has come up with in a long time. 2) Marketing, no doubt that Ford is having it's financial problems and it's hard to get an advertising budget however you can hardly get past an automotive magazine without seeing a 300C or Charger ad. Sum this up and we can honestly say that Steve Babcock has been vindicated, a 4 door family sedan with performance can be a success when properly marketed. Thank you Steve! Now, for those at Ford who might be reading this thread take a hint and bring back the Marauder to compete with it's rivals. We all need to remember that the Marauder was the original Muscle Car to be produced by the big three, not the GTO as they like to take credit for. There are a lot of grand old names in the Ford line that could be brought back like the success of "Hemi" i.e. "Cobra Jet", "Eliminator", "Wildcat"(yes this was a Cougar not a Buick),"Cyclone", to name a few. Get on the stick Ford, don't let the world pass you by, AGAIN!!!!!

[CBT]

I'm all for a 2007 Marauder S/D. (Super/Duper)

[dwasson]

There are a lot of grand old names in the Ford line that could be brought back like the success of "Hemi" i.e. "Cobra Jet", "Eliminator", "Wildcat"(yes this was a Cougar not a Buick),"Cyclone", to name a few. Get on the stick Ford, don't let the world pass you by, AGAIN!!!!!

Yeah! Granada, Maverick, Pinto, all sorts of good names. :lol:

[SergntMac]

I think the one thing Chrysler has going for it here, is that they launched with a fresh body design that doesn't have 10 years of dead cop cars behind it. It's radical, unique, impact that leaves a mark. Whether favorable or not in your personal tastes, it's surely striking, and this has been the history of Chrysler from way, way back.

In any professional ring, the fighters apply technique, style, psychology and philosophy. Like drunks in a bar, Chrysler swings at everything in reach. Sometime they win, sometimes they lose, but they do swing. Last but not least, Chrysler has absorbed, or, has been absorbed more than any other automobile manufacturer in history, so, when you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

[GA-Marauder]

Yeah! Granada, Maverick, Pinto, all sorts of good names. :lol:
Omni, Horizon, Aries, Stratus, etc....(They've had their moments, too)...:rolleyes:

[MarauderMark]

Marauder SVT w/ a Boss 429.. :D
I was given a chance to buy a 300C new and they were going to give me a great deal on my car , But i love the way my car looks a big family 4 door sedan that kiks a$$..But if something happens to it then it would be a charger srt-8 most certainly..
I like they way it looks.
http://www.dodge.com/autoshow/img/gallery/enlarge/charger_srt8/charger_gallery_03.jpg

[stevengerard]

I don't like it nearly as much as the show car but I'm with Mac, if something happens to my MM I have a chocie of a 300C, Magnum and a Charger. Can't beat that, three cars with size, style (or something like that) and balls

[MENINBLK]

I fail to see the comparison...

The Marauder was and always will be a 'limited' run vehicle.
That why only a few were made.
The Marauder is EXACTLY what it was intended to be,
a High Performance version of the CV/GM.

The 300C, Charger, and Magnum are High Performance Mitsubishi Galants.
There is a very BIG difference here...
These cars are made to SELL, and they will be made by the MILLIONS.

I still like my specially built, limited run, Marauder no matter what you guys say.

[ELKO1]

If something happens to my Marauder.....I think I'll take Shelby GT500 in 2007

[jjaguda]

If something happens to my Marauder.....I think I'll take Shelby GT500 in 2007
I could wait for the Shelby as well.

[twolow]

If something happens to my Marauder.....I think I'll take Shelby GT500 in 2007
Thats what I was holding out for until they finally unveiled it. They promised a much more different look than a GT but it just wasn't there for me. Where I live its a joke among us that you can count a mustang every 10 seconds while driving through town and its true. V6, GT, Cobra...they all just look the same after the town runs awash with them.

The Shelby looks awsome but by 2009 it will be blurring everyones vision with the Mustang V6's and GT's flooding the streets. In fact, the new mustangs are already filling up the streets here....nothing 'cool' anymore when everyone owns one.

I don't see many Crown Vics short of police and the old folks don't venture out much with the Grand Marquis short of Bingo night so I do have a unique car on the roads here (in my opinion anyway)

[twolow]

P.S.

I also got my 350Z because at the time it was rare. They are so common now that I don't drive it anymore...lost its spunk to me.

[White Knuckles]

I own both-- '03 MM and '05 300C AWD.

I need a 4 door sedan for business and I trade every two years.

A performance sedan was always a wish of mine and finally the Marauder came along in '03, I couldn't have been happier and had planned to purchase an '05 if it had been available. My hope for '05 was a S/C MM as had been discussed with the Trilogy set-up. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed and the MM went the way of it's predecessor.

Now once your bitten by the performance bug, it's impossible to go back. I tried a Ford 500-------all I could do is shake my head as I handed back the keys-------I can't merge into I-75 traffic with this.

The only Chrysler product I had ever owned was a 1964 Dodge Power Wagon (what a beast) that had one hell of a 6 cylinder coupled with a winch running off a PTO. This thing could climb up a mountain with you walking along side at Idle--------I digress. I had never owned a Chrysler automoble and I wasn't too thrilled with the prospect, but Ford and GM forced my hand.

In January, I was a passenger in a 300C AWD in the midst of a snowstorm in PA. The fellow driving knew I had a MM and wanted to prove the 300C could hold it's own. This thing had all the bells and whistles--leather,heated seats,Navigation system, satelite radio, Bose sound system and a "HEMI" mated to an All Wheel Drive. I was impressed.

I came back to Atlanta and tried to buy one---couldn't. Atlanta dealers were awfully proud of the few 300Cs they had and were asking 2-3000 over sticker. I inquired about the SRT8 and they smiled and said it would be available as an '06 and I could reserve one for a $10000 premium :bs: . I was also told AWD were not being sold in the South--- :bs: /2.

I called a dealer in PA---he had the fully loaded 300C AWD---he gave me a fair price----My wife and I jumped on a plane and made a weekend trip out of it.

I'm about to top 10,000 miles on it and have been very pleased. I was a skeptic that appreciates that Chrysler is going in a direction the others aren't willing to go.

I'll be buying an '07------will Ford have a contender--will GM? or will Chrysler be widening the gap?

I mentioned earlier I trade every two years. '05 I purchased the additional car without trading because I couldn't part with the MM. The MM has 87,000 miles on it and I'm having a great time putting it in tip-top shape and modding it to the level I had hoped for if an '05 MM had come along.

[ctrcbob]

The 300C (and all the 300's) is (are) selling good, but that does not alter the fact that it's still UGLY.

Have not seen the Charger in person yet so I can't comment.

[Ezbok58a]

Personally the Charger RT looks like crap with its stupid chrome griile and such. BUT The Charger RT Daytona and the SRT8 look absolutely menacing, just like a Marauder.

[the fat bastid]

i cant get past the fact it looks like a 300d. (aka it looks to close to the 300c)

what happened to that hot coupe prototype from 2001?

DC goes out a limb with the desgin of the 300. cool
make a dodge version which is different enough and still a risk (wagon). also cool
then they cop-out on the charger which looks to me like they said 'this is selling well, dont rock the boat, dont innovate'


however i must admit i do like mark's pic

[cyclone03]

Marauder SVT w/ a Boss 429.. :D
I was given a chance to buy a 300C new and they were going to give me a great deal on my car , But i love the way my car looks a big family 4 door sedan that kiks a$$..But if something happens to it then it would be a charger srt-8 most certainly..
I like they way it looks.
http://www.dodge.com/autoshow/img/gallery/enlarge/charger_srt8/charger_gallery_03.jpg

Is it just me or does the Charger have a 68 1/2 Mustang Cobra Jet hood scoop?Only super sized.

[MarauderMike]

Is it just me or does the Charger have a 68 1/2 Mustang Cobra Jet hood scoop?Only super sized.

I don't recall the Mustang with that scoop, but how about a 68 Torino GT?

[Ezbok58a]

I don't recall the Mustang with that scoop, but how about a 68 Torino GT?

He means the 68 mustang with the 428 Cobra jet, also known as the 68 Cobra Jet GT. A awsome car it was. :)

[MarauderMike]

He means the 68 mustang with the 428 Cobra jet, also known as the 68 Cobra Jet GT. A awsome car it was. :)

Darn how my memory is failing me, and I'm not old enough to be forgetting this stuff,, yet!

[gpfarrell]

I fail to see the comparison...
The 300C, Charger, and Magnum are High Performance Mitsubishi Galants.


Mitsubishi Galant? I think you meant "Previous Generation Mercedes-Benz E-class". The dimensions are slightly different, but the design is very, ahem, similar... right down to the 4-matic, I mean All Wheel Drive.

If M-B didn't own Chysler they'd be suing them.