Having failed to find an independent buyer for the Viper brand before it went into bankruptcy, Chrysler has been forced to hand over all its Viper assets to Fiat.
Fiat, whose takeover of the post-bankruptcy Chrysler business was confirmed by the US courts last week, now has the power to decide whether the Viper range should live or die. According to reports from the US, a decision to phase out the brand could be imminent, as there are fears within the Fiat group that the Viper brand can only grow as a potential rival to the Ferrari and Maserati brands.
While a sale to a third party is still possible, Chrysler itself was notably unsuccessful in its attempts to find a buyer before it went bust. Apparently, nobody was interested in stumping up even $10 million for the Viper business, with the best offer being a paltry $5.5 million from Devon Motorworks – and they only really wanted the current Viper platform as a basis on which to build the Devon GTX supercar, as reported on PH recently.
If Viper does fall to Fiat’s axe, it will be the end of a 17-year success story that has seen 25,000 roadsters and coupes hit the road since 1992.
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