“Huge Flood” Of Orders Boosts Production Of Hellcat Engines

US buyers want more Hellcats, so who is Dodge to refuse them? Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reportedly plans a consistent production increase for the popular 707hp Hellcat engines.

According to Dodge and SRT brands head Tim Kuniskis, there’s a “huge flood” of orders for Hellcat-powered versions of the Challenger and Charger which is why the company will increase production of the powerful V8 engines.

However, he didn’t say how many more Hellcat engines will be built. FCA produced about 4,000 units so far this year at the plant in Saltillo, Mexico. Since the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat went on sale last fall, Challengers and Chargers equipped with the engine have been selling for well over sticker price.

“We’re going to build more for 2016. We stopped taking all Hellcat orders months ago so that we could catch up to that demand, and then we will launch the 2016s,” Kuniskis was quoted as saying by Automotive News. The executive added that the company is still honoring existing orders for Challengers and Chargers.

It’s the second time Dodge is increasing Hellcat production, which is now double the brand’s initial estimates. “We’ve sold 88,000 muscle cars, Challengers and Chargers, and 4,000 of those have been Hellcats. It’s a small sliver of what we sell, but it really creates a halo for the rest of the lineup,” Kuniskis said.

He exemplified with the Scat Pack Challenger, the next highest car to the Hellcar, for which Dodge has a zero-day supply.