Some Dodge dealers cheating on Hellcat orders

FCA is warning potential buyers that some of its Dodge dealers are cheating them — accepting deposits for more of the high-performance Hellcat models than they are likely to be able to deliver.

The company says the maximum any dealer can expect is one Hellcat model a month — either a Charger four-door or a Challenger coupe, but not one of each. Promising buyers more Hellcats than that limited allocation could be borderline illegal, Dodge parent FCA (formerly Chrysler Group) says.

Dealers sometimes buy cars from other dealers, but for hot models that can lead to prices well above the window sticker. The first dealer will want a big markup on the sale because of strong demand, and the second dealer then will mark up the price paid to the first dealer.

The slap at dealers is extraordinary. Car companies typically look the other way when their franchisees push the limits of acceptable selling, claiming dealers are independent businesses they do not control.

Hellcats — more properly, SRT Hellcats — are 707-horsepower, 6.2-liter, Hemi V-8 muscle cars. Designed as expensive, limited-volume models, FCA has been overwhelmed by demand in these days of an improving economy and relatively low fuel prices.

Dodge hasn't shied from the cars' excesses. It notes, for instance, that the supercharged Hemi V-8 in the $64,900 Charger Hellcat would empty its 18.5-gallon fuel tank in 13 minutes with wide-open throttle at the car's rated maximum 204 mph.

In the automaker's blog, Gualberto Ranieri, head public relations executive in the U.S., writes a refreshingly biting item that says a "handful of dealers appears to have accepted large numbers of SRT Hellcat orders without regard to available supply and without advising their customers that orders may not be filled, if at all, for many months or longer.

"We believe such a practice may constitute a breach of the Dealer's Sales and Service Agreement with FCA US LLC and a violation of other applicable laws.

"Accordingly, we wanted our customers to hear directly from us how we are allocating Hellcat vehicles ..." Ranieri's blog post then lays that out with a flow chart.

Ranieri notes, "Overall, our independently owned and operated Dodge dealers have been doing a great job managing Hellcat orders. However, a small number of dealers are" tainting the process.