The Dodge Caliber and the Neon
The Dodge Caliber started production today, and many people are eagerly awaiting its arrival. The styling seems to be just what people want - boxy but not too imposing, a well-tamed SUV, not a swoopy, sporty, friendly Neon but a modern mini-version of the big trucks that were so popular so recently.
The Caliber will be more efficient than the Neon automatic, according to gas mileage figures just released (see Allpar’s Dodge Caliber page. Only the 148 hp 1.8 liter engine has a stick-shift; that is a little below Neon EPA figures (for 1995-99 and 2004-05), but only a little, and the Neon didn’t really achieve its estimates of 29 city, 38 highway anyway. The Caliber might, or it might not, but it has a lot more room and much more in the way of safety features. I don’t expect it to be as fast as the first-gen Neon - which was timed doing 0-60 in 7.8 seconds by more than one magazine, in stock form, with the single-cam engine - but the 2.4 liter version probably will be.
Chrysler has been odd about many things in recent years. The Neon came out as a Dodge-Plymouth model, with a single engine (later available in dual-cam form, but with about the same acceleration), while minivans had Dodge, Chrysler, and Plymouth (each with an array of engines in the 1990s, but just one when introduced), and the LH had three Chryslers and a single Dodge, with a highly variable number of engines (some LH models, such as the LHS and 300M, had a single engine). You never knew what they would do next, and it was sometimes very hard to understand their thought process, if any existed. Closing down Plymouth instead of Chrysler was one interesting choice. Assigning the PT to Chrysler instead of Dodge was another…
Back to the Caliber, though. Its weight will keep acceleration constant, most likely, with the base-engine model slower than the equivalent Neon stick, but, I think, faster than any Neon automatic, and that is what most people bought. Throw in a good starting price and a Jeep version, and you have a vehicle that is bound to generate more than the 120,000 sales per year that the recent Neon has been doing. To be fair, the Neon’s restyling hurt it, as did the horrible handling of the original’s many quality gaffes. The Neon was a great car at heart, but … that’s a story for another day.
The key with the Caliber in many ways will be quality, with lots of people looking for failure. Hopefully, the CVT, sourced from a Nissan subsidiary, will work flawlessly with Chrysler electronics. Hopefully, using Mercedes technology won’t hurt the engines’ reliability. Hopefully, the team-based assembly will quickly stop any process or factory issues from interfering. For Chrysler to regain an “average quality” reputation, it must perform nearly as well as Toyota and far better than Honda. For Chrysler to start to move up in the minds of the public, it needs to beat Toyota. Expectations are low (thank you, by the way, Consumer Reports, for harping on Chrysler’s problems so much, while giving Ford and Honda so many free passes).
We are heartened by the excitement around the Caliber, by the surprisingly good gas mileage, by the nice, high horsepower ratings (which should help compensate for the weight), and by the general acceptance and enthusiasm for the looks - always a big question at first! This car means a lot to Chrysler. If it is a runaway success, maybe Joe and Dieter will change their minds about letting Chrysler develop their own entry-level car, instead of forcing the Polo or Colt on them; and maybe, we’ll see a sedan and a coupe, the rumored Rebel.
We can always dream, right? After all, we never thought the future would look this bright when Dieter first came to town.
Re: PT, Dodge dealers didn’t need it. Chrysler dealers were losing Plymouth’s Neon and wanted something in that general price range to sell*; I’m sure the Chrysler Voyager and Prowler happened for the same reason. Since many (most?) have brought in Jeep I’m sure they’re thrilled to have the Compass to sell. I do think this is a big launch; and if it does well I suspect they may consider a true entry level sedan of their own. It would also help if the new midsizers exceed expectations…
*That’s direct from the guy that runs the dealership where we bought the PTs. They weren’t happy with losing the Neon and were quite happy when the PT was transformed into a Chrysler.
Dealerships often have a short-term view… as Chrysler obviously does as well. I’m sure Chrysler dealers were happy to have cheap cars to sell. Probably most BMW dealers would love a 1-series and most Mercedes dealers would love a nice cheap A-class, too. The Cadillac Cimarron probably was popular among dealers as well…
Eeew, I don’t know about that last part…
I have to chime in on this one. Yes, dealerships are EXTREMELY short sighted. Most are completely focused on the “here and now” sales programs. Unfortunately, most don’t care if they ever see you again. With customers keeping cars a couple of years or more, the “next” sale to that person is like a non-entity sort of thing. With such an intense focus on getting that sale NOW, the rest of the services associated with that dealer sort of go downhill. Buy the car one day, come back the next and talk with the sales person that you dealt with about a service problem, and you will be hustled off the show room floor so fast that you will wonder if you are in the same place. In fact, most of them don’t want to even know you after that sale. Chrysler in its chaotic existence just never seemed to develop an adequete dealer oversight program that specifically set in mind the long range effects of keeping a customer coming back. These guys also forget that satisfied customers bring other customers. There never seems to have been a program for planned acquisition of the next new car either. What better time to fix a replacement date when the customer is buying that day. In that I mean like projected value of the new Belchfire, along with appreciated values for keeping the maintenance on time and always current, offering discounts for regular customers for tires and other things. A few minutes with a nice printed hand out or booklet for the customer to absorb at his leisure might put a thought into his head that maybe the dealer does care about him over the long haul. An incentive or two with a weather eye on trade in would also go some ways to help get the folks back in the showroom in a couple years. Word of mouth advertising is priceless. Bad mouthing is also devastating! 10,000 attaboys are destroyed by just one “aw crap!” 10,000 “aw craps” will put you out of business. Beating people up will also hurt you. However, there are dealers out there yet that are consumed with that daily sales objectives. They resort to all sorts of techniques once you get in the showroom. The NADA deal will guarantee that about three times during the “negotiation” you will be either out of your seat or about ready to go. Keeping your car keys hostage is another lousey trick. Parking your trade in about 4 miles away after you decide to tell ‘em where to keep their car also sets a fine example of caring. There are other dealer abuses, too numerous to go into here. What people truly need is a car buying service to either point them in the right direction or go buy the car they want for them.