How Dodge Challenger won pony car race for the first time

DETROIT — The Dodge Challenger is running its own race.

The muscular coupe topped the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro in 2021 to win the pony car segment for the first time, but Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said brand executives aren't waking up every day trying to figure out how they can one-up the competition.

The brand isn't looking to offer the lowest prices with a laser focus on volume. Kuniskis said one of the foundations of the Challenger's success — and Dodge itself — is the ability to market to the many Dodge enthusiasts who are drawn to American muscle and the sense of community that comes with it.

On top of that, Kuniskis pointed to the adroitness of dealerships that have responded to the dearth of inventory during the microchip shortage by building a business model around selling vehicles before they arrive on the lot.

The Challenger's uniqueness, he said, has been a driver of its staying power in the market. The speedster is "not trying to follow anybody else," Kuniskis said.

"That's why I said we don't wake up trying to chase Mustang and Camaro," he told Automotive News. "Not that I don't think they're viable competitors. They're phenomenal cars; they're just different cars. They're different than what we're trying to do."

Dodge sold 54,314 Challengers in the U.S. last year, ending the Mustang's six-year streak as No. 1 in the segment.

The chip shortage continues to concern Kuniskis, but he's been encouraged by how dealers have responded.

"I worry about chips," Kuniskis said, "but I also feel a little relief that the dealers have really come up with very robust processes to figure out what their inbound inventory is and cultivate a list of customers that they have and match those customers to the inbound units."

Las Vegas dealer John Grant said it was great to outsell the Mustang, but he knows that wasn't the ultimate motive for Dodge. Grant said Kuniskis has been committed to feeding product to the "Dodge family" of enthusiasts and building relationships with them.

Inventory has been tight, Grant said, and the Challenger shipments that do arrive already have buyers waiting for them. Two years ago, Grant's Desert 215 Superstore that sells Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram had around 1,000 vehicles on the lot. It has fewer than 200 today.

"All of a sudden, we had to figure out how do we sell the incoming ones, and people like that," Grant said. "People like ordering them, and [for] that Dodge Challenger, you can change the seats and the motor and the colors. The customer base has just embraced that."

Huntington Beach Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Southern California was the top-selling Dodge store in the U.S. last year. General Manager Mike Harrington said the Challenger's V-6-powered GT variant has been the volume leader, with a starting price just under $35,000. But he said the more powerful Scat Pack model has been turning the fastest.

Harrington wouldn't be shocked if there's a rush to buy more Challengers as Dodge prepares to phase out this generation of muscle cars and transition to electrification. He thinks the current Hellcat versions could become like the limited-run Challenger SRT Demon, which his dealership has been selling for double the original $86,090 sticker price.

"My owner wants to keep [the Demons] because they're so rare, but he put them up there just in case somebody wants to pay and really, really wants one," Harrington said.

Grant believes some Dodge lovers will welcome the brand's shift to electrification, and Kuniskis said there's a "shocking" number of people who are excited about it.

But Kuniskis said he'll be "juggling knives" for the next two years because he'll have to shepherd the electric vehicle rollout while also engaging those who are skeptical about EVs.

The outreach to customers already has begun. Dodge has promised to release at least one new step of its two-year Never Lift business plan every three months.

The brand is expected to launch a plug-in hybrid model in 2022 and a battery-electric muscle car in 2024.It also will show an electric concept this year.

Redesigned versions of the Challenger and Charger are expected to drop internal combustion and move to Stellantis' electrified STLA Large platform, which is capable of up to 500 miles of range.

Kuniskis said the brand's track record should give fans reason to look forward to a future of electrified muscle.

"They acknowledge the fact that we do muscle cars different, and therefore we'll probably do electrification different," Kuniskis said. "And that's why I've been very vocal to tell people when we do electrification, it will be different. When we launch our concept car here in the next four months or so, we're literally going to lay out how we're doing it differently."