Dodge to supply new police vehicles?

[mchastek]

Eighty-five percent of all police cars sold in the U.S. are Ford Crown Victorias. Ford has recently been involved in lawsuits regarding nearly twenty police officers that have died as a result of accidents involving the Crown Victorias, according to this Detroit News article: http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/28/autos-130981.htm

Aiming to take a piece of the police car market, Dodge announced that it will roll out a special version of the Charger. Last year, a law-enforcement edition of the Magnum was announced.

Will Dodge be successful in stealing some of Ford's market share in the police car arena?

[FleetGuy]

There are so many issues concerning police vehicles, but to keep it short any competition in the rear wheel drive police vehicle market will be well recieved and I'm sure each department will have a niche that these vehicles will serve. Will depts switch thier entire fleet? For those who stock their own parts, look at the increased cost of stocking two of each braking system components. Some questions you have to ask are: Assuming they are ordered w/Hemi's, does the additional power provide any real value for the costs? Will the possibility of greater fuel consumption affect the depts bottom line? It's taken Ford years to get the CVPI to where it's at now, it will take some years for depts to build trust in the Dodge products and feel comfortable in acquiring anything more than a pilot fleet. Anyone else care to put their 2 cents in?

[mchastek]

There are so many issues concerning police vehicles, but to keep it short any competition in the rear wheel drive police vehicle market will be well recieved and I'm sure each department will have a niche that these vehicles will serve. Will depts switch thier entire fleet? For those who stock their own parts, look at the increased cost of stocking two of each braking system components. Some questions you have to ask are: Assuming they are ordered w/Hemi's, does the additional power provide any real value for the costs? Will the possibility of greater fuel consumption affect the depts bottom line? It's taken Ford years to get the CVPI to where it's at now, it will take some years for depts to build trust in the Dodge products and feel comfortable in acquiring anything more than a pilot fleet. Anyone else care to put their 2 cents in?

I agree with you Michael. I think it's great to see Dodge moving into the police vehicle arena, and I think the competition will be good for Dodge and Ford alike. Like you said though, it'll take quite a while for most departments to migrate over, since they've been used to dealing with Crown Vic's for quite a long time. I applaud Dodge for making the move, as I think this is a tough arena to enter into.

Do you think the new Chargers will be well-received by police officers?

[jtlesage]

Ford certainly has a lock on the police patrol car market, ever since the Chevy Caprice went away. I understand some departments are using Impalas for unmarked and administrative cars, a few even considering them for patrol units. And now Chrysler is making a move. I would imagine that the police market is not super profitable or we would have seen other manufacturers adapting cars for this market segment years ago.

[mchastek]

Ford certainly has a lock on the police patrol car market, ever since the Chevy Caprice went away. I understand some departments are using Impalas for unmarked and administrative cars, a few even considering them for patrol units. And now Chrysler is making a move. I would imagine that the police market is not super profitable or we would have seen other manufacturers adapting cars for this market segment years ago.

Regarding the profitibility of the patrol car market, I believe you're right Jon. I remember hearing in the past that Ford's having a large market share in this arena isn't as great as it seems. I imagine the patrol cars are ordered with absolute minimum options (read: lower profit for Ford), and the cars get used and abused non-stop. If Ford offers the same warranty they do for consumers (or any warranty at all, for that matter), I am sure they would be spending a good amount of money on warranty repairs given the amount of abuse the cars take.

One question I had - does Ford actually do the patrol-car modifications themselves BEFORE selling to police departments? Or does a separate company do this? If Ford does it themselves, perhaps they make up some of the lost profit in this area.

[FleetGuy]

Ford does offer an equipment upfit program with several levels of options available. Chevrolet uses Kerr Industries, I'm not sure about Daimler/Chrylser. These options are helpful to depts that do not have garages or the resources to prep the vehicles prior to delivery.

As far as profit is concerned, probably not substantial on the initial acquisition end, but when you consider life after patrol (taxi's), parts sales factor in.

I've not seen a Charger yet, but since it's based upon the Magnum/300 series platform and aside from the obvious horsepower difference, I'd say that interior space may be one of the biggest issues with the vehicle. Throw a couple of 250 lb officers in the front seats and see if they're shoulder to shoulder.