Dodge is pulling the plug, so to speak, on its base model electric Charger Daytona, the R/T, as it deals with slow sales, but don’t expect what appears to be a limited-edition run of vehicles to turn into collector’s items, according to a key industry watcher.
“Rarity does not make a collectible. You need to have demand for it,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions. “You can’t presume that this will be a Charger Daytona of 1970. They couldn’t sell those originally and years later they were collectible.”
Fiorani said it’s risky to bet on a car of today becoming something that brings big dollars in the years to come, even when the numbers of those made and sold are relatively small.
Still, Dodge will continue to offer the more powerful and expensive electric Charger Daytona Scat Pack for the upcoming model year, even as it prepares to launch several gas-powered versions.
While it’s not clear how many Dodge Charger Daytonas will be produced this year, so far the sales picture is showing a fairly light impact. Electric Charger sales – the company did not distinguish between versions – for the first three months of this year were at 1,947. Granted, they were just beginning to arrive in showrooms in January after months of delays.
However, the automaker likely had higher hopes. Fiorani noted that he’d recently driven by a Dodge dealership and saw a row of Chargers waiting to be sold.
No one wants an electric Charger. That car is supposed to be built for real men, the people that appreciate an internal combustion engine and rear wheel drive.