In the tumble of Fiat and Chrysler's alliance following Chrysler's bankruptcy, the future of the Viper has been a back-burner issue, but today, Dodge President and CEO Mike Accavitti announced that the Viper will in fact see continued production under the company's new leadership.

In the video below, Accavitti makes it plain that the new leadership is fully behind the continued production of the Viper at the Conner Avenue assembly plant. "The Viper lives. The new leadership team the Chrysler Group gets it," he said.

Since its introduction in 1989 at the Detroit Auto Show, the vehicle has had a rabid, if small, core following. When Chrysler began its descent into bankruptcy last year, the Viper brand was held close until the very end, and though it was ultimately shopped to potential suitors, no satisfactory offers were put on the table, and so the brand stayed with Chrysler.

Now, under Fiat and Sergio Marchionne's leadership at the Chrysler Group, the Viper will continue forward, serving its niche of high-performance enthusiasts and pushing the envelope of what is possible in a production street car.

After all, the Viper SRT10 ACR does hold the production car record lap time at the Nurburgring with a Corvette ZR1, Porsche GT2 and Nissan GT-R-beating time of 7:22.4 minutes. With its 8.4L, 600hp V10 engine and more-than-capable handling, perhaps it's no surprise.

So far, over 25,000 Vipers have been built in the car's 17-year production run.

Dodge CEO Mike Accavitti announces continued Viper production