Thursday 1st August 2019

Dodge offers $10 cashback for each horsepower

God bless the marketing genius who decided to reward each extra hp with a ten buck allowance for the Challenger and Charger

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In America right now you can buy a 797hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye with a $7,970 discount, a ‘regular’ 717hp Hellcat with $7,170 off or an R/T Scat Pack with $4,850 taken from its list price. Honestly. It’s all possible thanks to a new Dodge Power Dollar scheme, which for every horsepower a Challenger, Charger or Durango SUV produces, gives a buyer ten dollars back in cash. Hence the near $8k off for the near 800hp Redeye. Genius!

If you’ve not followed the US car market in recent years it would be easy to assume such discounts come in a bid to boost sales at Dodge. But in actual fact, Dodge has long cemented itself as the US’s most popular performance saloon maker with the Charger and is second only to the Mustang in the two-door segment, as well. Maybe this is Dodge attempting to mount a charge (ehem) on Ford’s lead – or perhaps it’s simply throwing two fingers up to rivals in a cloud of American V8 smoke.

We particularly love that Tim Kuniskis, Dodge’s head of passenger cars, has decided to total the outputs of all the Chargers and Challengers sold since the latest versions were introduced in 2006 and 2008 respectively. He said: “Dodge has put 485 million horsepower into the hands of our loyal enthusiasts,” the brand “has more horsepower than anyone else, and we want to share it and give those who have always wanted more the ability to get more”. What a guy.

It’s here that the apparent truth behind Dodge’s new scheme is revealed; Kuniskis added: “The goal is to grow to a half-billion horsepower before the end of the year. This is what we believe John and Horace Dodge would want us to do”. Amen to that. We’re not jealous at all.

[Vocht]

Marketing Campaign Name: 'Flog what you can before the C8 Corvette gets here!'

[Turbobanana]

Assuming most are "bought" on some sort of finance package, and assuming you can get the rate low enough, seems like a great way to get a low-rate $8000 loan and a fun car to boot.

[WCZ]

dodge took a bit of a hit on their reputation with the internet crowd from the demon underperforming despite massive hype

[unsprung]

Vocht said:

Marketing Campaign Name: 'Flog what you can before the C8 Corvette gets here!'

+1

[Gojira]

This place is getting more and more full of miserable sods, isn't it?

[Gameface]

Vocht said:

Marketing Campaign Name: 'Flog what you can before the C8 Corvette gets here!'

Why would the mid engined Corvette be more of a rival to this Dodge than the current front engined Corvette?

[unsprung]

Gameface said:

Vocht said:

Marketing Campaign Name: 'Flog what you can before the C8 Corvette gets here!'

Why would the mid engined Corvette be more of a rival to this Dodge than the current front engined Corvette?

Two reasons:

Because the new Corvette, and its "radical" mid-engined redesign, is at the moment a sensation. It is driving traffic to Chevrolet websites and Chevrolet dealerships. Many of these people are just looking, but some are now buying the new or used car or truck that they've been thinking about in recent months.

Car sales in general are in decline at the moment.

[Gameface]

Someone sees a mid engined Corvette and ends up buying a truck and that's why Dodge are giving a discount?

Your thinking isn't joined up IMO.

[unsprung]

Gameface said:

Someone sees a mid engined Corvette and ends up buying a truck and that's why Dodge are giving a discount?

Your thinking isn't joined up IMO.

Think about it a bit longer.

[Gameface]

I don't need to.

Our interaction is at an end.

[eliot]

whats not to like?

[Baldchap]

Scat pack.

Sorry. I'm sure it's very good.

[redroadster]

Great marketing skills and u get a sizable amount for deposit on Chucky .

[NineB]

Gojira said:

This place is getting more and more full of miserable sods, isn't it?

Except for you!. Excellent comment. I'd say there were far more positives in that article than negatives so lets focus on the positives!

[chow pan toon]

Challengers just look right. If I was in the states I'd have one in a heartbeat.

[unsprung]

chow pan toon said:

Challengers just look right. If I was in the states I'd have one in a heartbeat.

I used to think, "Meh... the Challenger just looks a bit too narrow for the heritage that it's meant to carry forward."

Then they announced the wide body versions. Running out of excuses, now!

[scottos]

In todays boring car world that sort of 'Murica!!! car news is very welcome.

[RoverP6B]

People who want a 2-ton 5-seater won't even be looking at a Corvette, not even a C7.

Make mine a Charger, please...

[unsprung]

RoverP6B said:

People who want a 2-ton 5-seater won't even be looking at a Corvette, not even a C7.

As we all know, people are not machines.

Lots of things can drive traffic to a dealership. Or to a dealership's website. Or to an OEM's website.

And sometimes these things are not identical to what a curious window shopper or a tyre kicker (can I use that term in Blighty?) decides to buy.

[irocfan]

unsprung said:

Vocht said:

Marketing Campaign Name: 'Flog what you can before the C8 Corvette gets here!'

+1

yup - because a 2 door, 2 seat (nearly) supercar is the same as a a 4 door family super-saloon, a 4 door super-SUV or a 4 seat super-coupe... the Camaro is being battered by the Challenger at the moment (thanks partly to a ghastly, and now replaced, facelift), the new Chevy SUV range is gopping and the saloons are dull looking. Yes GM will still sell more cars than Dodge (IIRC always have - likely always will) but I suspect their markets are slightly different.

Just love the Challenger, Charger, Trackhawk and new Durango