Auburn Hills, Michigan – Chrysler has officially elevated its SRT (Street and Racing Technology) in-house performance division as a separate company brand.
The announcement comes as three additional SRT products are set to rejoin the lineup alongside the 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8: the 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, Chrysler 300 SRT8 and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8. All use the company’s new 6.4-litre (392 cubic inch) Hemi V8.
“Being a separate brand will allow our team to expand the dedicated engineering and marketing resources for specific performance vehicles,” said Ralph Gilles, president and CEO of SRT Brand and Motorsports. “We will look to delight SRT customers and evolve our business model with the performance enthusiast in mind. The SRT vehicle lineup will continue to make the latest in contemporary luxury features available to our customers, while carefully integrating active and passive safety features. We strive to never lose focus on driver involvement and vehicle character while maintaining each of the vehicle brand’s key design differentiators.”
The SRT performance team was formed in 2002, originally named the Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO group) and with members recruited from the Dodge Viper development team. The first official product was the 2003 Dodge Viper SRT10, followed by the Neon SRT4. Other models that have received SRT treatment include the Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Ram, Caliber and Magnum. The PVO team was renamed SRT in 2004.
source : autos.ca
