In case you hadn't heard, the SRT Viper is dead and the Dodge Viper is a thing again. And now that Dodge is once again charming this particular snake, it has announced that a refresh of the iconic sports car is scheduled for next year.
The Viper re-do comes just three years or so after the first car was delivered, but the current model has been plagued by early quality issues, slow sales, and, well, a pretty excellent and much cheaper product from Chevrolet.
What changes will be made are as yet unknown, but Dodge could choose to introduce a cheaper model, look for ways to tame the car's intimidating reputation—said to be a factor in the sales slump—or perhaps add the expected convertible variant back to the lineup. In an attempt to move more Vipers—production has been both scaled back and stopped over the past eight months—Chrysler has already introduced several variant models, including the TA track monster, the Anodized Carbon edition, and a limited TA/Carbon mashup car that we dubbed the TAGACSEPVGTS.
Charger and Challenger
Perhaps Dodge's most well-known nameplates, these two cars were just heavily refreshed for 2015—Charger info here, and Challenger here—with all-new interiors and exterior upgrades, and this week's Fiat-Chrysler product-info dump indicates that whole-hog redesigns of the cars are due in July 2018. (The SRT variants will follow by the end of the year.) As with the Viper, little is known about the next-gen versions, but we'd assume FCA will look to trim a bunch of weight from the cars. We do know that Alfa's new rear-drive architecture won't be applied here.
Interestingly, one additional slide in the presentation referred to this pair generically as "E-sedan" and "E-coupe" in reference to their market segment—it's tempting to think that this might mean a nameplate shuffle (Charger actually applied to a coupe! Dodge Barracuda!), but that's highly unlikely at this point given the equity each badge possesses. Then again, stranger, much more confusing decisions have been made by automakers.
- 2015 Dodge Challenger Debuts: All-New Inside, More Retro Touches Outside
- FCA Information HQ: Future Product News from Jeep, Alfa, Dodge, and More
- Dodge Charger Reviews, News, Specs, Pricing, and More
Durango
Finally, for fans of extra-macho family vehicles, Dodge indicated that the current Durango will be refreshed again in early 2017. A thoroughly retooled model was just launched in the middle of last year. While this would make the Durango very, very long in the tooth by the time it's ultimately redesigned in 2019 or beyond, it's currently among our favorite SUVs and one of the only ways to get a rear-wheel-drive ute on the relative cheap, so we're cool with waiting little longer for an all-new model.
For tons of additional product news from every Fiat-Chrysler brand, click here.
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