It seems pretty obvious to me that Chrysler has rolled out a re-designed
Neon that isn't as sporting as the old one. Everyone who has driven one
of the new cars says the the new car won't be as competitive in S2 or
road racing.
So now Chrysler can bow out of the contingency program that supported a
car they no longer make and make it look like SCCA is the bad guy for
them pulling the plug. I think this is the real reason. Obviously,
Chrysler stands to get a lot of good press out of Topeka, so the S2
contingencies stand. But with the "trunk kits" in road racing their
chances of getting good press were substantially reduced so they bailed.
But essentially the contingency program would have been ended by the end
of 1999, anyway IMO.
Part of this is just business. Contingency programs come and go based on
the business goals of the company who puts up the money. If the company
feels it is getting a decent return on the dollars expended, they like
the program. Chrysler used the contingency program to hype up its new car
and was able to position their product as a sports car by doing so. Now,
they have changed their design philosophy of the Neon so the contingency
program doesn't fit their business philosophy any longer.
The fact they were able to shift the blame over to SCCA because of the
"trunk kit" issue helped them dodge the "bad press" they would have
gotten had they waited until after the runoffs to pull the plug.
Ben Thatcher
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