Automotive News [sub] reports that ChryCo will be adding a second shift to the Dodge Caliber line at its Belvidere, IL plant. So do the Pentastar Boyz think consumers will be that wowed by the Caliber’s new, allegedly less industrial-grade interior? Or is killing the SRT-4 “halo” model somehow expected to lift sales?
Sales last month were unchanged from August 2008’s Carpocalyptic 4,000 units. In fact, the only possible cause for the ramp-up was Caliber’s 7,814 unit clunker-boosted performance in July. June saw only 3,538 units sold while May sales didn’t crack 3,000 and April was dismal at 2,544. Weirdly, the Caliber’s Patriot platform-mate saw an even bigger C4C bump in July, and was slowly improving at levels just below the Caliber’s. But Compass and Patriot aren’t getting a production boost. Maybe it is the interior. Or maybe they’re demonstration models for China.
please no
Haha, nope.
Chrysler has a new compact sedan coming for a late 2010MY release. You’ll see what I’m talking about in December.
I had one fo these as a rental, horrible car in every way.
A new Neon? please please…
The banks have not loosened up lending enough to stuff credit challenged people into them. That’s Chrysler’s biggest challenge.
I still can’t get past front tires smoking. Maybe it’s just me.
Caliber SRT4 – like a V8 Vega, it’s fast but you have the negative connotation that goes with it.
As for the photo: What’d they do, put some dry ice under it?
ChryCo could do a complete new styling and bring back the Onmi GLH moniker.
SRT’s offer the most interior space, the most power for their size and price and the most fun driving experiences you can get short of an Ariel Atom.
@ Flashpoint: A Cobalt SS will smoke it, and is actually a decent driver. Hell, the Cobalt’s interior is even an improvement over the SRT4. It may be fast, but it’s still a Caliber. Undesireable at any speed.
I am completely and utterly confused. Has there also been an unexplained jump in the number of people viewing the Heidi Montag music video? I sense a connection…
Yeah. Build more Calibers. That ought to do it.
Maybe they’re going to export them to Brazil.
Let’s pray they are being exported. My cousin bought one of these a few months ago pre-c4c. I haven’t sat in everything, but it had to be one of the worst interiors even brand new. Obviously not handsome either. What’s worse is she paid 17k and thought it was a good deal.
Flashpoint: “SRT’s offer the most interior space, the most power for their size and price and the most fun driving experiences you can get short of an Ariel Atom.”The Mazdaspeed3 handily trumped the SRT-4 in every category (save outright power) in every comparison I’ve ever read.
The SRT-4 was just another in a long line of what auto industry insiders refer to as a ‘kid car’, i.e., a powerful engine stuffed into an economy car chassis for a modest price, aimed squarely at the youth market. The original (and best) version of this concept was the decidedly low-rent (but fast for the money) 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner, the success of which Chrysler has been trying to duplicate ever since.
The saddest thing about the Caliber is that despite all of its flaws it is infinitely better than the more expensive Avenger/Sebring.
CAFE seems to explain it all, at least until Fiat bails them out with a decent small car design.
FloorIt:
“ChryCo could do a complete new styling and bring back the Onmi GLH moniker.”
Excellent idea, if you ask me. Of course, that would get out of the “C” names (Caliber/Charger/Challenger) that Dodge seems so fond of, but as we’ve discussed with Ford’s insatiable need for “F” names (Focus/Fusion/Freestyle/Flex) and “E” names (Escape/Explorer/Excursion/Edge), it gets pretty ridiculous if you trap yourself into that style of marketing.
The Omni GLH at least has some credibility. The Caliber does not. Do you think, in 20-odd years, you’re going to still be seeing Calibers on the roads? My bet says no. But there will still be that 30- or 40-something year-old Omni in your town that you see on your commute everyday. Those were tough little cars, and I think ChryCo should capitalize on that fact by bringing the Omni badge back.
They’d need to improve the Caliber in practically every way before they slapped “Omni” on the tailgate, though. Else they would ruin the whole Omni legend.
Shouldn’t the headline be “Chrysler Ups Caliber/Compass/Patriot Production, Kills SRT4”?
Or are they only going to make Calibers on the extra shift?
Or are they only going to make Calibers on the extra shift?
That’s what they’re saying…
I went to Allpar to see if they had anything on it:
Belvidere Plant adds second shift, boosts Caliber production
September 2nd, 2009
by Bill Cawthon
Chrysler has announced it will add shift at the Belvidere, Illinois Assembly Plant to make an additional 10,000 Dodge Calibers this year. Production of the Jeep Compass and Patriot will not be increased.
You are correct. But it just seems odd. If you expect sales in general are going to improve you would increase all production. Color me perplexed.
Are there any sales figures out on the Caliber SRT4? I suppose the fact they are dropping it tells us all we need to know though.