Just a few weeks ago we reported that Dodge had put a halt to all new Hellcat Challenger and Charger orders so that they could tackle the massive backlog they had accumulated. There’s no question that the 707 horsepower muscle cars have been a runaway success for the company, and it’s the sort of success that has taken their production capacity by surprise. Dodge had estimated they’d sell about 4,000 Hellcat models throughout 2015, and in less than half of that time, they’ve received more than 9,000 orders.
For a company that sells cars, that’s just about the best kind of problem to have. But with just over 2,200 cars built as of a few weeks ago, things were starting to get out of hand, so they put a stop to new orders while they build the ones that customers have been waiting for. The Challenger SRT Hellcat already saw a build delay related to cars ordered with the matte black hood treatment, and Dodge is looking to minimize the possibility of further delays and frustration for buyers who are anxiously awaiting the delivery of their new cars.
Last week, good news arrived for those customers in the form of a post by a moderator at Hellcat.org, who reported the following:
“For those of you still waiting on your VIN’s, you just may be receiving a nice little surprise in the coming days. An anonymous source tipped us this morning and said that Dodge has just scheduled an additional 1,000 SRT Hellcat’s [sic] to be built. Of those 1,000 new schedules, we did not receive any hard numbers on how many were Challengers or Chargers, but it’s definitely a huge step in the right direction and looks like Dodge is listening.”
A thousand cars might seem like a bit of a stop-gap measure when there are nearly 7,000 orders outstanding, but it’s certainly encouraging news for would-be owners who are hoping to have their cars delivered in time for some summer hooning.