Dodge faces charges of misleading advertising that may lead to the company being unable to sell its recently continued Durango SRT Hellcat lineup. Per CarBuzz, owners are furious about their SUVs rapidly losing value as more and more are being made.
The company itself positioned the first generation of the SUV as a limited edition, saying so explicitly in advertising and informational materials. It is now going to restart the production, a move that is almost guaranteed to damage the exclusive status of the vehicle and upset those buyers who viewed it as a long-term investment.
Many owners have already said they were offended by the decision and that they had never intended to actually drive their SUVs, hoping for a profitable resale someday in the future.
Some even reminded Dodge that the production run had originally been limited to 2,000 units, but later expanded to 3,000, which also caused negative comments back when it happened.
It is unclear how the litigation will go. Proving that marketing slogans meant anything specific by ‘exclusivity’ is nearly impossible unless the automaker provided a special clause in the contract stating the planned production quantity. There is no such clause, so Dodge will probably have no problem dodging the accusation (sorry). On the other hand, the company may still get slapped with a class action suit in deliberately misleading advertising.