Two Main Points
by David Finlay (23 Jun 06)

The Caliber is Chrysler Group's way of introducing its Dodge brand to the UK market, and it is anything but conventional. The company's intention with this car is to offer a boldly-styled alternative to the relatively bland offerings in the C segment (of which the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf are the leading players) - in fact, the Caliber's outward appearance is one of the two aspects on which Dodge is relying on it to make an impact on customers.

It looks like a crossover between a coupé and an SUV, though it doesn't drive like the former and has none of the off-road capability of the latter. That in itself is quite ironic, since the Caliber shares its platform with the 4x4 Dodge Patriot and Compass models which will arrive on the market in the near future. Anyway, the point is that the Caliber has a stylistic butchness (however unjustified) which, no question about it, is not remotely apparent in the Focus, Astra or Golf.

The other selling point for the car is its low price. You can buy the entry-level 1.8 S for just £11,495 - a remarkable figure considering the Caliber's size. The 2.0 SXT Sport diesel tested here is the Furthest North of the range, and even that comes in at a modest £15,430.

I think Dodge is going about its marketing the right way. The looks - if you like them - and the price structure are the best parts of the range as a whole. The best part of the test car is the engine, which Dodge (as Mitsubishi has done with the Grandis) has bought in from Volkswagen.

There can be no reasonable objection to this. Volkswagen's quiet and smooth-running 138bhp 2.0 TDI unit is one of the best of its type in the world. Despite the Caliber's bulk, it provides combined fuel economy of 46.3mpg along with a very spritely 0-62mph time of 8.8 seconds.

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