The Demon 170 is an ethanol-fueled 1,025-horsepower swan track for the Dodge Challenger nameplate. It’s the final Hemi-powered two-door tire burner you should purchase earlier than the model shifts to its all-electric Daytona muscle automobile.With a beginning worth of slightly below $100,000, the Demon 170 is a screaming discount contemplating its energy and efficiency. The issue is that getting this automobile for that worth gained’t be straightforward.
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The day the Challenger Demon 170 was revealed to the general public, I acquired quite a lot of emails from potential clients asking if my group might assist safe them a Demon 170 allocation — with out a market premium. Realizing this automobile was going to be made in restricted numbers, and offered by a seller community that oftentimes embodies the worst automobile dealership stereotypes, the possibilities have been low.
I rapidly reached out to some contacts within the Detriot metro space who had connections with giant seller teams. The texts I obtained again all stated roughly the identical factor: “All of the automobiles are gone and offered for not less than $100,000 over MSRP.” Then I hit up just a few of us within the Northeast. Just one obtained again to me, saying that they had a slot for “a minimal of $65,000 over MSRP, and we’re taking bids.” I did converse with one seller who offered their single Demon 170 allocation at MSRP to a really loyal buyer.
I reported my findings to the patrons who had reached out for assist. One potential shopper in California nonetheless needed to contract my companies, in hopes that we might pull off a miracle, nevertheless unlikely. My group investigated allocations at over 40 dealerships utilizing Dodge’s very useful “Horsepower Locator,” which tells patrons precisely which sellers have allocations for particular fashions.
A lot of the sellers my group spoke with reported that their allocations have been all gone, and admitted that they offered for properly over MSRP. Some shops had slots out there, with the vast majority of sellers intending so as to add markups that may primarily double the worth of the Demon 170.
Here’s what we discovered, damaged down by area. (Supplier names have been blurred.)
Northern California
Southern California
Nationwide
None of that is shocking — that is, in spite of everything, a limited-edition specialty automobile with sufficient demand that patrons are keen to drop $200,000 on a Dodge Challenger. There are even some reviews of sellers asking upwards of $350,000. But it surely’s actually discouraging to anybody hoping to nab a Demon 170 for its base worth of $96,666.
My purchasers preserve asking the identical questions: Does Dodge even know the way dangerous issues are? Do they even care?
With the Demon 170, Dodge put in place a “precedence allocation” system, much like what the corporate did for the 2018 Demon. Primarily, automobiles offered at MSRP (or beneath) get precedence and can be constructed first. (Each Demon 170 is custom-ordered.) Vehicles which can be offered over MSRP are pushed to the again of the road. Naturally, this begs a query: If the vast majority of these automobiles are being offered with massive markups, how can all of them be pushed to the again of the road? And what prevents a seller from promoting the automobile at MSRP on paper, however including $50,000 of “equipment” to the full transaction?
So What Is Dodge Doing About Demon 170 Markups?
To search out solutions, I went straight to the supply: Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis. He instructed me each confirmed Demon 170 order must be submitted with a notarized doc, signed by the seller and the shopper, indicating whether or not or not this automobile was being offered at, beneath, or above MSRP.
“Our objective is to make 3,000 automobiles for the U.S. market,” Kuniskis instructed me. “I don’t know if we will accomplish that, however that’s the objective. We are going to construct the MSRP automobiles first, and those who paid over MSRP might threat not getting a automobile.”
Kuniskis stated that, proper now, Dodge has 1,000 confirmed orders with all the mandatory documentation, and 62 % of these orders are at MSRP. One other 500 orders are in “draft standing,” not but finalized. Order banks for the Demon 170 opened on Monday, March twenty seventh, and the web site crashed briefly because of the inflow of orders. Dodge launched about 2,500 allocations for the Demon 170 at the moment, which means there are doubtlessly as much as 1,000 slots but to be crammed. Sellers have till Could 14th to get their allocations finalized.
As for tales just like the one above, the place a seller is including a separate $50,000 “accent bundle” to an MSRP automobile, Kuniskis regards it as a fluke. “If these conditions are taking place, that could be a seller and a buyer colluding on a authorized doc,” he instructed me. “I’ve a tough time believing that’s taking place on most of these MSRP offers.”
Kuniskis additionally made the purpose that the discharge of the Demon 170 might create a cascade impact — clients who beforehand submitted orders for various special-edition Challengers, just like the Hellcat Redeye or Tremendous Inventory, might migrate as much as the Demon 170, opening construct slots for fashions with lower than 1,025 hp.
Everyone knows that automakers are restricted in what they will mandate their sellers to do. Relating to mainstream, legacy automakers, each dealership within the U.S. runs independently of the OEM whose automobiles they promote. There’s one potential resolution out there to automakers: Construct a ton of automobiles to fulfill demand. And in terms of one thing as specialised because the Demon 170, frankly, a possible run of three,000 items is a whole lot of automobiles.
Kuniskis additionally acknowledged one thing all of us implicitly perceive: The shopper base performs a significant half in perpetuating these sorts of markups. Dodge can set the MSRP, however the automaker has no management over the market worth of a automobile — that’s decided by patrons. If each Demon 170 buyer determined to not pay a dime over sticker worth, the sellers must modify their pricing accordingly.
Tom McParland is a contributing author for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He takes the trouble out of shopping for or leasing a automobile. Acquired a automobile shopping for query? Ship it to Tom@AutomatchConsulting.com
