Dodge will offer a fleet version of the 2006 Charger, according to a May 23 report in Automotive News. Fleet business, including police car sales, could account for as much as 25 percent of Charger sales in the U.S., Joe Eberhardt, executive vice president of global sales and marketing for the Chrysler Group, said in the report. Eberhardt said the Chrysler group wants to use fleet sales to gain exposure for the rear-drive sedan. The fleet-only Charger will be equipped with a 2.7-liter V-6 and a four-speed automatic transmission, compared to the 3.5-liter V-6, five-speed automatic in the retail base model, the Charger SE. Stability control, traction control and antilock brakes are optional on the fleet model, standard on the SE. The sticker price for the fleet-only Charger has not been released. The Charger SE is listed at $22,995 including shipping. The fleet-only Charger goes into production this year, according to the Automotive News report. In other product news, the 2006 Dodge Charger has received the government’s highest rating for frontal-impact crash protection from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Charger's five-star rating for frontal-crash protection makes it the 10th new product from Chrysler Group to achieve the top-safety rating.