Chrysler ends production of Caliber

Chrysler Group LLC ended production of the much-maligned Dodge Caliber this week, the last of the econoboxes introduced by Detroit's Big Three during the past decade that came to symbolize a failed strategy in the domestic auto industry.

Introduced in 2006 as a replacement for the Dodge Neon, the Caliber was regarded by many industry observers as the worst of a bad bunch. Consumer Reports ranked the Caliber SXT at the bottom of its list of small hatchbacks and wagons in the 2011 annual car issue.

"It's the last of the American bottom-feeder compacts," said analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics LLP. "That's what they were. It came from thinking, 'small cars, small profits.'"

Hall said he thought cars such as the Caliber, the Chevrolet Cobalt and previous generations of the Ford Focus were the products of "cynical thinking" and approved because the companies thought consumers who purchased the entry-level vehicles wouldn't know any better.

Hall added that all three Detroit automakers have replaced those vehicles with competitive small cars.

"In the case of Chrysler, it started during the Mercedes mismanagement of the company," Hall said. "Then Cerberus got involved and had no idea what they were doing with this car."

When Italy's Fiat SpA took over the automaker as part of a 2009 bailout brokered by the Obama administration, CEO Sergio Marchionne made replacing the Caliber a top priority. Its successor, the all-new Dodge Dart, will be unveiled next month.

The sleek Dart will be based on a platform that was developed by Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand.

Chrysler sold fewer than 34,000 Calibers from January until the end of November — about 21 percent fewer than it did during the same period a year earlier.

"I would be surprised if the Dart doesn't come close to tripling Caliber sales in the first year," Hall said.

bhoffman@detnews.com

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