Reports came in last month indicating that sales of the new SRT Viper weren't too hot. Part of the reason, funnily enough, was the arrival of the new Corvette Stingray. Despite this hurdle, SRT CEO and the Viper's design chief Ralph Gilles wants to set the record straight: the Viper isn't going anywhere. As further relief for Viper fans, Gilles also emphasized the car has a very bright future. "The plant is booked solid. We actually have several hundred units outstanding we still have to build."

The real reason for the slow sales wasn't so much the new Vette but because Chrysler dealers weren't ready to deal with bespoke customer requests. Gilles specifically mentioned that "our network understands the segment very well. I think the mistake we're making is understanding the customer who spends $130,000 to $140,000 for a car. They want what they want – their color, their stripe, their package, their interior. And dealers were trying to anticipate the market ended up creating a car that may not be the right car." This issue is being fixed by pairing up dealers with existing Viper owners and prospective customers in order to better understand them.