Pretty sure Dodge (and cheby and ford) is no stranger to competing with themselves.
That's like saying "Well, there's already a 426 Hemi in the Dodge Chargers. We don't need to put one in the Plymouth Barracuda too."
It's nothing like that, at all. The Charger ( probably mis-named. Should have been called a "Magnum Sedan") ) is a 4 door sedan, the Challenger is a 2 door. Two
very different animals, that share little besides a drive train.
The do not compete with each other.
Back in the day when the, so called, "Big Three" ruled the roost, there was plenty of room for clones in both brands. That time is long past, and the American manufacturers can no longer afford to compete with them selves for market share.
Ford and Chrysler did do things a little different from GM, though. Where Foord and Chrysler shared corporate engines, transmissions, and rear ends, platforms and bodies, GM shared platforms, but that was about it. Before GM homogenized each of their brands Caddy, Olds, Buick Chevy, and Pontiac had unique engines. Each of GM's brands had it's own drive train. That's why, if you look at an older GM repair manual, you see so many different engine displacements. 502 Caddies, 455 Buick, 454 Chevy ( and they did not share internal parts, either. 326 Pontiac was not the same engine as a 327 Chevy.
GM finally realized, as Ford and Chrysler realized decades earlier that have one of each size of corporate engine for all their brands to share was more economical. That is precisely the reasoning behind Chrysler's 4 door Charger and 2 door Challenger. They do not compete.
How many times have were heard that there will be a new 'Cuda? WHy? WHat purpose would it serve. Except for a grill and a rear fascia, it would be exactly the same as the Challenger. It would cost more to produce, even if run on the same assembly line, as they would have t produce the "Cuda" body parts,and script,... Chrysler can no longer afford to blow that kind of money.
A 2 door Charger would cost tons to produce, and and not add enough customers to validate the expenditure. Plus, it would compete with both existing cars. Not a good business decision.
Otherwise everyone would be driving around identical boxes with wheels and the exact same engine in every single box.
