Dodge Caliber

[henk4]

OK: Questions: Is it built on a Mercedes platform? B-Class??
Will it be available in Europe?
Will it be available with a state-of-the-art diesel engine?

[DodgeInfoCenter]

OK: Questions: Is it built on a Mercedes platform? B-Class??
Will it be available in Europe?
Will it be available with a state-of-the-art diesel engine?

The Dodge Caliber is manufactured on its own platform; not one based off of any other vehicle. The all-new 2007 Dodge Caliber will in fact be available in Europe. The vehicle will be available with a diesel engine overseas, however, as of now, we have yet to receive any information pointing toward diesel availability in North America.

Regards,

Miguel M.

[henk4]

As far as I understood the Caliber will available in Europe with a 2.0 VW TDI engine. Is that an engine still using the pump/nozzle technique, that VW will be phasing out over the coming 6 years, or has Dodge specified a Common Rail version. Is there any specific reason why the car will not be fitted with the 2.0 CDI engine from the Mercedes B-Class? (That the petrol engines come from Mitsubishi could be part of decisions made before DC withdrew from Mitsubishi).

I have seen the car in Geneva and does not look bad at all.

[dracu777]

Well, Miguel, what do you expect. I am asking some very clear questions two posts up and you don't answer. That is not very inviting for others to come up with different questions

Of course he won't answer. Your question included TDI and CDI. The demographics for this car have no idea what those are. So since he is in marketing for the US, he won't be informed on those.

[henk4]

Of course he won't answer. Your question included TDI and CDI. The demographics for this car have no idea what those are. So since he is in marketing for the US, he won't be informed on those.

may be the marketing people in that country should learn that there is more than just the US of A???? or alternatively not post on what is clearly a global forum

[dracu777]

may be the marketing people in that country should learn that there is more than just the US of A???? or alternatively not post on what is clearly a global forum

I couldn't agree more. Lack of training fueled by impertinance and ignorance of all things non-US.

[henk4]

such a shame that you (the USA) will not be getting the most interesting and most economic version of this car.....
Anyway, I think if you post here as a Dodge General Info centre than you should be prepared to find out all the questions relevant to the car, rather than sending me to another site and ask me to try my luck elsewhere

[Wouter Melissen]

Henk4,

Although I certainly would like to post information regarding what Dodge has in store for the Caliber overseas, unfortunately that is beyond the scope of the information that we have been provided to propogate. Moreso, our intention is to seize the attention of individuals interested in the vehicle within the United States - globally, our largest target market. For information pertaining to what configurations the Dodge Caliber will be available in overseas, my best suggestion would be to get in contact with the DaimlerChrysler International Customer Assistance Center.


Regards,

Miguel M.

Miguel,

Can you please stop posting links in every post you make? With every post it becomes more obvious that your sole intention is to promote the Chrysler products. I have ignored your posts, but they are starting to get rather obnoxious; we have deleted posts and banned members for less. If DaimlerChrysler is interested in advertising on Ultimatecarpage.com they can contact us directly instead of lowering themselves to spam levels.

Thanks and regards,
Wouter Melissen

[DodgeInfoCenter]

Hello Wouter,

Thank you for your response. Our main intention is to inform interested consumers with updates on this new model. We feel that ultimately, purchasing decisions will rest upon the quality of the vehicle and not its advertising. I apologize if outwardly it seems as if our intent is one of pure advertising with no regard for loyal forum supporters. This is not the objective in mind. In regard to the links located in the last post that you quoted me on, the attached links were incorporated by a third party unbenknownst to us. The only links that I have provided are the ones that link interested consumers to official DaimlerChrysler web pages (i.e. the Dodge website). Again, thank you for the feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Miguel

[henk4]

why did it take you more than 2 months to come up with that reply?

[DodgeInfoCenter]

why did it take you more than 2 months to come up with that reply?

Hello henk4,

I apologize for the such a delayed response. Being that activity for this particular thread has subsided, there were no Caliber-related questions to respond to. However, I came across Wouter Melissen's post recently. My intention was to rectify any ambiguity as to what our purpose for communicating with forum members is. Thank you for the reply. And, by all means, if you happen to have any questions regarding the all-new 2007 Dodge Caliber, feel free to post. As always, I would be happy to be of assistance.

Cheers,

Miguel M.

[henk4]

it might be interesting for the American readers to see what Auto Motor und Sport wrote when they tested the Caliber 2.0 CRD (the one fitted with the VAG pump-nozzle diesel engine).

"The price and the appearence of the car are attractive, but in spite of that the car has clear weaknesses:
Bad brakes, mediocre springs, weak and unsupportive seats, and unstable body behaviour during cornering"

The last issue can be explained a bit better from the actual test text: The car responds to any effort to do a left-right combinationat a reasonable speed, with a frightening body tilt and tyres cry out for mercy.

Even the mileage, normally one of the strong points of the VAG engines, is incomparably high, with a test consumption of 8.8 liter per 100 km. (in the Passat the same engine need at least one liter less).

The main attraction is the price (due to the low dollar exchange rate), but
"it has to be clear that you buy a car that in terms of quality, ride characteristics and safety, is miles away from its European competition"

[Ferrer]

Another flop from an american manufacturer trying to sell in Europe... probably..

[dracu777]

it might be interesting for the American readers to see what Auto Motor und Sport wrote when they tested the Caliber 2.0 CRD (the one fitted with the VAG pump-nozzle diesel engine).

"The price and the appearence of the car are attractive, but in spite of that the car has clear weaknesses:
Bad brakes, mediocre springs, weak and unsupportive seats, and unstable body behaviour during cornering"

The last issue can be explained a bit better from the actual test text: The car responds to any effort to do a left-right combinationat a reasonable speed, with a frightening body tilt and tyres cry out for mercy.

Even the mileage, normally one of the strong points of the VAG engines, is incomparably high, with a test consumption of 8.8 liter per 100 km. (in the Passat the same engine need at least one liter less).

The main attraction is the price (due to the low dollar exchange rate), but
"it has to be clear that you buy a car that in terms of quality, ride characteristics and safety, is miles away from its European competition"

Not that much different then what the American publications are saying, especially about its road manners. Nevertheless, Dodge has managed to sell them off at a brisk pace...perhaps because of their marginally better gas mileage compared to SUV's.