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The Caliber is a 5-door hatchback roughly the size of a Neon, and was first shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It features styling elements derivative of larger Dodge vehicles, such as a crosshair grille and large wheel arches. The Caliber is one of the first modern Dodge-branded vehicles for sale in the European market. It debuted publicly on January 10, 2006 at the North American International Auto Show, amid jokes by David Spade. The base price is US$13,985. The Caliber's main competitors are the new Chevrolet HHR, the Ford Focus and the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe. The Caliber is also Dodge's first 4-door hatchback since the Dodge Shadow was discontinued in 1994. OverviewThe Caliber uses a continuously variable transmission (dubbed CVT2 by Dodge) sourced from Jatco (a Nissan subsidiary), the first DaimlerChrysler car to employ this technology after the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. It uses a four-cylinder 1.8–2.4 L GEMA gasoline engine. The car also features an electronically-controlled all-wheel drive system with variable torque between speeds of 25 and 65 mph for optimal handling. The Caliber rides on the GS platform, co-designed with Mitsubishi Motors. It shares the platform with the Mitsubishi Lancer, but is most similar to the Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. The Caliber is built at the Belvidere Assembly (Illinois) plant, where its predecessor was produced. The Chrysler Group announced a marketing plan for the first year of the cars' production. The plan included 20% of the budget going towards online marketing, a blitz of print ads and a number of television ads. It should also be noted that Dodge is marketing the Caliber in the exact opposite way that they marketed the Neon when it first came out. With the Neon, they based its advertising campaign mostly on its cuddly looks, with many ads consisting of just the front end of a Neon with the word "hi" above it. With the Caliber, they are claiming that it is "Anything but cute", and its ads show it repelling cuteness, such as cartoon characters saying that "it's neither cuddly nor wuddly" or more bluntly "it scares the bleep out of me".
ModelsThree models were available at the Caliber's launch, with a fourth available in mid-2006.
SEThe base SE model features front wheel drive and a 1.8 L 148 hp (110 kW) GEMA I4 attached to a 5-speed manual transmission. A 2.0 L 158 hp (118 kW) version of the engine is available as an option.
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