Chrysler Group is hoping to join the likes of Ferrari and Porsche with its prototype ME Four-Twelve, an 850-horsepower super car that was one of four concept vehicles the company introduced in Detroit on Sunday, according to Associated Press (AP).
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AP said Chrysler is also eyeing General Motors’ Hummer with the Rescue – a taller, heftier Jeep with massive, 37-inch (94-centimetre) tyres, removable doors and a folding windsscreen. Two smaller concepts designed for younger buyers – the compact, three-seat Treo and the Sling Shot sports car – also were unveiled, the report added.
Chrysler chief operating officer Wolfgang Bernhard, who introduced the ME Four-Twelve in a tuxedo, told Associated Press the prototype was developed in less than a year and the vehicle, which would be Chrysler’s first supercar, will be ready for road tests this summer.
The 12-cylinder, six-litre engine can accelerate the car from zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 2.9 seconds, Bernhard reportedly said, which would break the three-second standard – tthe prototype’s top speed is 248 mph (400 km/h).
Chrysler executives told AP that the concepts could reach the market in two to three years if the company decides to build them. Chrysler President Dieter Zetsche reportedly said they would put a “tremendous spotlight” on the company.
“Chrysler used to be the engineering company. That’s something we should strive to be seen as again,” Zetsche said, according to Associated Press.
