Dodge Challenger Wins Cars.com's "2012 Shopper's Choice Award"

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 11, 2012  /PRNewswire/ --

• 2012 Dodge Challenger named "Shopper's Choice," representing their favorite car of the year
• Online shoppers activity for Challenger, combined with it grabbing the most votes from Cars.com Facebook fans in the final round earned it the title

Representing the voice of millions of shoppers who visit Cars.com, the Dodge Challenger beat out nine other domestic and import finalists, ranging from small cars to larger SUVs and trucks, to become their favorite car of 2012. The Dodge Challenger was awarded at Cars.com's annual "Best of 2012" event during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

"The Dodge Challenger's win proves, once again, that our Cars.com shoppers know what makes a great vehicle," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor-in-chief. "The Challenger's classic muscle car styling, refined handling and spacious interior make this an excellent choice for anyone in the market for a fun and surprisingly practical car."

The top 10 finalists for the Shopper's Choice Award were selected based on shoppers' actions on the site that indicated interest in new vehicles, including searching for vehicles, sending inquiries to dealers on availability and most importantly, filling out a positive review of their vehicle. The Dodge Challenger took home the title after grabbing the most votes from Cars.com Facebook fans in the final round of the competition.

"The Dodge Challenger is the ultimate American muscle machine," said Reid Bigland, President and CEO, Dodge Brand — Chrysler Group LLC. "We're very proud that interest in the Challenger remains exceptionally high and that our owners are so enthusiastic, they voted for it to win the cars.com Shopper's Choice Award."

About the Dodge Challenger
The 2012 Dodge Challenger delivers exactly what muscle car enthusiasts want — a powerful and efficient engine lineup, a performance suspension designed for maximum grip, and athletic head-turning styling — all executed with quality and precision.

The Dodge Challenger SXT models package feature the lightweight, aluminum 3.6-liter Pentastar™ V-6 engine with 305 horsepower (227 kW), responsive 268 lb.-ft. (363 Nm) of torque and up to 27 mpg highway. With legendary 5.7-liter HEMI® V-8 engines under their hoods, the 2012 Challenger R/T models delivers up to 375 horsepower (280 kW), 410 lb.-ft. (556 Nm) of torque and 25 mpg highway.

With customization options, including hood-to-fender stripes, dual stripes, bodyside stripes, nostalgic paint colors and a choice of seven different wheel designs, Dodge Challenger sits apart from the pack and perfectly combines fun, nostalgia and power in one car.

All-new die-cast zinc steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters enable even more spirited driving and are now available on Dodge Challenger SXT Plus package and R/T models with five-speed Auto Stick transmission.

Innovative Uconnect® Media Center radios (430, 430N and 730N) integrate a 6.4-inch touchscreen display with a 20 to 28-gigabyte hard drive for additional storage, USB port with iPod control, segment-leading Garmin® navigation guidance and mapping, SIRIUS Traffic and SIRIUS Travel Link, providing real-time weather, fuel prices and more while on the go (depending on model). The 2012 Dodge Challenger also offers a world-class 900-watt, 18-speaker premium surround-sound system from Harman Kardon®.

To make long cruises more comfortable, the 2012 Dodge Challenger features highly cushioned and comfortably contoured seating, while maintaining large bolsters to hold passengers in place during performance driving. To make it easy for up to three passengers to get in and out of the backseat, the driver's seat features seatback tilt- with memory and an easy-to-reach release handle, while the front-passenger seat includes tilt-and-slide with memory.

Dodge Challenger offers exceptional rear seating for a two-door coupe, achieving best-in-class rear head room (37.4 inches) and legroom (32.6 inches) compared with its competition. With class-exclusive seating for five, coupled with best-in-class cargo space (16.2 cu. ft.), the Dodge Challenger is the segment's best day-to-day pony-car choice, offering maximum comfort and functionality to go with its legendary iconic styling and performance.

The 2012 Dodge Challenger features more than 45 safety and security features, including standard ESC, now integrating Chrysler Group's new proprietary Ready Alert Braking and Rain Brake Support safety features to improve overall vehicle handling and performance both on and off the track.

About the Dodge Brand
For nearly 100 years, Dodge has defined passionate and innovative vehicles that stand apart in performance and in style. Building upon its rich heritage of muscle cars, racing technology and ingenious engineering, Dodge offers a full-line of cars, crossovers, minivans and SUVs built for top performance – from power off the line and handling in the corners, to high-quality vehicles that deliver unmatched versatility and excellent fuel efficiency. Only Dodge offers such innovative functionality combined with class-leading performance, exceptional value and distinctive design. With the all-new 2013 Dodge Dart, the all-new Dodge Charger paired with the ZF eight-speed transmission that achieves a class-leading 31 miles per gallon on the highway, the new Durango and the significantly revamped Grand Caravan – inventor of the minivan – Journey, Avenger and iconic Challenger, Dodge now has one of the youngest dealer showrooms in the United States.

About Cars.com
Cars.com was recently named the "Best Overall Customer Experience" by Keynote Systems, the leader in Internet and mobile cloud marketing. Cars.com is an online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com put millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they needs to make confident buying decisions.

Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (N.Y.SE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (N.Y.SE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (N.Y.SE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (N.Y.SE: WPO).

SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC

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