Chrysler Kills the ME-412

[CrackRabbit]

http://www.caranddriver.com/ar...30&article_id=9096

Chrysler Nixes Supercar Production

The Daily Auto Insider
Friday, January 7, 2005
January 2005

Chrysler says it will not build the ME Four-Twelve sports car, a concept vehicle named for its 850-horsepower, mid-engine design ? four turbochargers and 12-cylinder engine ? that has a claimed top speed of 248 mph, the Detroit News reported.

The concept car was shown in Detroit last year at the North American International Auto Show last year as a "production prototype." But a year-long internal Chrysler study revealed that bringing the car to market would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars."

"We're proud of the excitement it generated around the world," a Chrysler spokesman said. "But we could not make a legitimate business case for it."

Chrysler will debut another high-end sports car concept at the Detroit auto show next week, however ? the Firepower ? which is a rear-wheel-drive coupe based on the Dodge Viper with a 425-horsepower engine and an estimated top speed of 185 mph, the News noted.

 

[Howard]

I didn't figure they would build it anyway.

 

[LtPage1]

aw. 🙁 thats too bad.

 

[0roo0roo]

cockteases.

pwned by ford gt🙂

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Howard
I didn't figure they would build it anyway.

Seriously...how many people could afford and would buy that thing anyway?

How about they focus on making cars that Joe Sixpack can afford, that don't suck?

 

[0roo0roo]

hey, the ford sold....

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Howard
I didn't figure they would build it anyway.

Seriously...how many people could afford and would buy that thing anyway?

How about they focus on making cars that Joe Sixpack can afford, that don't suck?

When you have a car of that magnitude, that won't have high production numbers, you'll definitely have enough buyers for it..

 

[notfred]

The name sounds like it's a German WWII plane.

 

[BW86]

aw that sucks 🙁

 

[MisterCornell]

Originally posted by: Syringer

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: Howard
I didn't figure they would build it anyway.

Seriously...how many people could afford and would buy that thing anyway?

How about they focus on making cars that Joe Sixpack can afford, that don't suck?

When you have a car of that magnitude, that won't have high production numbers, you'll definitely have enough buyers for it..

These companies are in the business to make money. It's very difficult to build a new car from scratch and make a profit if you are only selling a few hundred units. The costs to design a new platform these days are in the billions of dollars. Add in things like labor market inflexibility (union contracts), possible need to build a new assembly line/plant, and it makes things very tricky indeed.

Keep in mind that a concept car is basically *nothing* as far as making a real production car goes, other than the "concept" and even then only some styling bits. Concept cars are put together (hand made) in a few weeks at a cost of a few million dollars. A real car takes at least 18 months to design, and usually more like 3 years.

 

[Mungo Jerry]

It is never a good thing to name your product somthing similar to a WWII German weapon

 

[Baked]

They only built the prototype for show so people know what they can do.

 

[darkswordsman17]

The Ford GT and this car aren't really comparable.

First off, this thing would be going up against cars like the Bugatti Veyron (I forget the exact name, but the one that has the quad turboed W16 or was it 18).

Also, Ford isn't building the GT themselves, they're having Saleen do it, and Saleen already has the tools for it. Chrysler would have to either build a new factory or make some big changes to an existing factory. I doubt Mercedes was too pleased with it either. Chrysler would've had to fly solo on this one in order for them to make it.