Dodge Viper to end production in 2017 – report

Automobile News has published some select details that it believes are in the latest contract between Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and the United Auto Workers (UAW).

The Viper is currently hand built at the company's Conner Avenue plant in Detroit. The Conner Avenue site has been responsible, in the past, for advanced engineering work, as well as small production run vehicles, such as the Viper and the Plymouth Prowler.

According to the contract, no product is allocated to the Conner Avenue factory after 2017, indicating that the Viper will end production that year.

The current Viper features an 8.4-litre V10 with 481kW of power and 813Nm of torque. All that fury is delivered to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.

The original Viper debuted in 1992, and was part of a long line of stylistically adventerous vehicles that turned Chrysler's image and sales around after a decade or more of dreary, but functional, vehicles.

Production of the Viper ceased in 2010 during the company's bankruptcy, which saw it pass from the hands of a private equity firm to control by Fiat.

Under Italian control, Chrysler began producing a new generation Viper in 2013, but sales have been slow. In the US 591 were sold in 2013, 760 in 2014, and 503 so far in 2015. Back in 2003, the company sold 2103 Vipers across the United States.