2006 Dodge Charger Test Drives

Dodge Gets Charged Up

It may no longer be a muscle car, but this Charger is definitely recharged.

Two of the new cars in its stable, the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Magnum, have been huge hits. Dodge has sold 65,760 Magnums in America since it introduced the wagon last May, and Chrysler has sold 169,867 of its overhauled 300 sedans since April 2004, the model's first full month of availability. Both vehicles -- based on the same platform -- are helping parent company DaimlerChrysler turn a profit. Now Daimler is hoping that a resurrected, storied nameplate, the Dodge Charger, will continue to add luster, and dollars, to the revitalized automaker.

Unlike the 300 and the Magnum with which the Charger shares its structure, however, to many old fans of the previous incarnation last appearin in showrooms 27 years ago, the new Charger is a bit of a disappointment. In place of the growling, two-door muscle car of yore is a four-door family car with -- gasp -- an automatic transmission. In a discussion forum at AutoWeek magazine's Web site, one person's message gets right to the point: "Chargers don't have four doors."

Down the page a bit is a similar sentiment: "Why sell a souped-up four-door with a name [that] had no history with four-doors? Here's a thought: how about a four-door Ferrari sedan? Get my point?"

Yikes. Fortunately for Dodge, such musings may be like those of people who tried to save old baseball stadiums such as Comiskey Park and Tiger Stadium: traditionalist hot air that is opposed to progress and modernization.

Yes, the old Charger was one of the most sinister of all the classic Detroit muscle cars -- and many moviegoers will get to see the General Lee, arguably the most famous Charger of all time, rip up the road in The Dukes of Hazzard -- but the new Charger could be a success in another way: financially. The Charger is a high-volume car headed for high-volume dealers who are hungry to sell it for three reasons: (1) the Magnum needs a sedan companion, (2) the other Dodge sedans -- the Neon and the Stratus -- aren't exactly the hottest cars on the market and (3) Dodge needs a full-size sedan to compete with cars such as Ford Motor's Crown Victoria.

Despite the disappointment of nostalgic auto enthusiasts, it is a good bet that the Charger will succeed because it's a solid car and it looks good --  that should be enough to win new fans. Even though the Charger has been out of production for decades, Dodge says 70% of U.S. car buyers are still aware of the name and correctly associate it with the Dodge brand.

General Motors' most recent attempt at cashing in on a nostalgic nameplate -- the Pontiac GTO -- is foundering. The resurrected GTO, with its 400-horsepower V8 engine, has performance credibility going for it but not much else -- certainly not racy styling. With only 5,465 U.S. sales in the first five months of 2005, it is Pontiac's lowest-selling passenger car by far -- and that's counting the Sunfire and Bonneville, which will be discontinued.

The Charger, on the other hand, has performance, looks and practicality going for it. Best of all, it outperforms ho-hum competitors such as the Ford Five Hundred sedan.

Another reason the Charger is poised for success is that many if not most of its sales are likely to be of high-end models, which translate into high revenue. The Chrysler 300, a vehicle that is very similar to the Charger, has sales patterns that suggest customers are willing to complement its sexy styling with upscale options. The 300 starts in the low $20,000's, but customers tend to prefer it fully loaded -- at which point the car is closer to $40,000. (The entry-level Charger starts at $22,320, including destination charges; the Hemi-powered Charger R/T that we tested starts at $29,320.)

All of this is great news for Dodge, which would love to have a popular passenger car on its hands, given that the Neon and Stratus are pretty passé at this point, to say the least. One reason Dodge wants this kind of new vehicle is it has become such a truck-heavy brand that people forget it sells cars. Dodge says it holds an 18% American market share in trucks but only a 5% share of the passenger car market.