2006 Dodge Charger Coming June 1st

Press Release

Modern-day Heritage and Muscle Celebrated Through Built-in Quality

Whether it is a performance fan that appreciates legendary HEMI power, an active family that needs four doors with flexible interior space or a connoisseur of great design, there is one thing common in all drivers - they demand quality. The 2006 Dodge Charger delivers on all fronts - head-spinning styling, function, performance and solid quality.

The all-new Dodge Charger blends past and future by evolving its past into a sophisticated and contemporary execution of an icon, while using state-of-the-art technology to produce the highest quality vehicle possible.

"Great design sets a vehicle apart from the competition, but great quality is what takes a vehicle to another level," said Stephen Walukas, Vice President - Corporate Quality, Chrysler Group. "When creating a Dodge Charger for today's market, the bar is already set extremely high with the challenge of delivering on the promise of the legendary names of ‘Dodge' and ‘Charger.'"

Chrysler Development System (CDS)

The 2006 Dodge Charger was designed and engineered using CDS, a comprehensive, coordinated and disciplined product creation process that improves quality and speed-to-market while reducing costs and encouraging practical innovation in new products.

CDS emphasizes systems engineering, design and up-front planning to avoid time-consuming and costly changes during the latter phases of the product development cycle. With CDS, all product and process planning is completed and fully integrated before production tooling begins.

With the help of CDS, corporate warranty costs have dropped more than 50 percent since 1996, with more than 30 percent of those reductions in the last three years alone. In external quality metrics, the Chrysler Group brands continue to make dramatic year-over-year improvements. In one quality image survey, the Strategic Position Study, Chrysler Group has shown a four-percent improvement - more than any other manufacturer in the study.

Charging Confidently Through Quality Gates

The Dodge Charger team of more than 700 engineers is dedicated to making it - and its product mates the award-winning Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum - one of the highest quality vehicles to be launched by the company. The 2006 Dodge Charger is among the first Chrysler Group vehicles to meet all 12 steps of the Quality Gates process.

This process was adopted as part of the best-practice synergies to come from the DaimlerChrysler merger. Prior to the merger, Chrysler used the Chrysler Development System to ensure quality from a vehicle's design sketch stage, through concept and prototypes, to testing and ultimately, to production at the plant. After the merger, Chrysler Group added the Quality Gates process, a system that requires senior management to perform a 12-step checks-and-balance review of each product at critical stages of development. Only after the ultimate approval of a group consisting of Executive Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, senior managers and engineers who are directly responsible for the vehicle's development and Chrysler Group President and CEO Dieter Zetsche, can the vehicle move to the next stage of development.

"In the past, manufacturers would move vehicles through a development system, patching and fixing along the way but always moving the program forward to meet launch deadlines to preserve speed to market," Walukas said. "Those deadlines still exist, but consumer satisfaction is too important at Chrysler Group for a program to continue without proper validation and testing. Technology in testing and validation allows us to stop a project if necessary, fix it, and still get it to market with the highest possible quality within the launch timeframe."

The Dodge Charger program is the result of a development process completely achieved using the CDS and the Quality Gates system.

"We couldn't be more proud of the outcome," said Walukas. "Creative muscle that is our trademark, coupled now with the strength in quality and reliability that is making the industry take notice. The 2006 Dodge Charger steps up to the plate for another home run for the Chrysler Group."

Quiet Ride along with Dominant Presence

Extensive use of aerodynamic best practices in the design of both the Dodge Charger's exterior and underbody make the car aerodynamically efficient. This contributes to greater fuel efficiency, a quieter interior compartment and a more refined vehicle overall.

Charger engineers spent hundreds of hours in test labs developing the vehicle design to minimize Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) in the car. This testing was instrumental in the design of the exterior mirror shape, A-pillar geometry, and seals on the door glass and at the upper C-pillar.

Aerodynamic testing on full-scale Dodge Charger clay models equipped with actual underbody parts took place in the DaimlerChrysler Technology Center (DCTC) world-class Aero-acoustic Wind Tunnel. Resulting details that contribute to an aerodynamically efficient Dodge Charger body include:

* An exterior rearview mirror shape that was developed to minimize drag, divert airflow away from the driver's window and channel water around the mirror to keep both surfaces clear and minimize wind noise and buffeting
* Airflow through the functional parts of the windshield wiper blades was managed to facilitate high-speed performance and eliminate wind noise
* A closeout under the front fascia and engine, which include functional brake ducts that funnel air from the front of the car
back inside to the wheels, help cool the front brakes and improve brake performance
* A closeout behind each front wheel
* Closeouts forward of each rear wheel

During Dodge Charger's development, the engineers logged more than 100 hours in the world-class testing facilities at the DCTC in Auburn Hills, Michigan, at both Chrysler Group Proving Grounds, located in Michigan and Arizona and at the Gratton Raceway in Michigan. This added up to more than 7 million miles of customer-equivalent driving and experience in the Charger.

In addition, engineers conducted worldwide validation trips to test Dodge Chargers in temperatures from -20 degrees to 45 degrees C to test vehicle performance at environmental extremes.