Small Caliber Outgunned, Awaits Alfa Arrival

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

You’d think with an owner by the name of Fiat, Chrysler would be knee-deep in small cars. Just the opposite is true. The Freep complains:

“Chrysler, for all of its recent improvements, is missing out on one of the biggest opportunities of the year: a chance to grab a larger slice of the small-car segment while Japanese automakers try to rebuild their car supplies after the March earthquake and tsunami that disrupted operations.”

Chrysler’s long-in-the-tooth small Caliber is losing sales. It is missing out on a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” (Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com), presented by a confluence of rising gas prices and a disrupted supply of Japanese cars.

A new Caliber, based of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, is due in 2012. By that time, the Japanese will long have recovered. The Japanese makers are not waiting for the supply to catch up anyway. Says Anwyl at Edmunds:

“Japanese manufacturers have gotten more aggressive in terms adding to incentives; allowing incentivized vehicles to be ordered with delivery to be taken later; and pressure on dealers for margins — either with pre-discounted lease incentives or simply “talking down” higher prices.”

To pass the time while waiting for the new small Caliber, here a bergmannesque preview:

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Volt 230 Volt 230 on Jun 21, 2011

    Once again, just as they did during the C4C plan, the Arab oil embargo, the 2008 $4 gas bubble Chrysler is caught with their pants down, nothing to sell, the one small model they had, Caliber, is not even that good on gas to begin with and trails the competition in just about every aspect.

  • Bryce Bryce on Jun 21, 2011

    The Neon was rubbish and was a joke outside the US small gutless and gas hungry So the Caliber builds on that using crap Misubishi platforms no surprise its not much of a car the mitsi base was no good either

    • Mazder3 Mazder3 on Jun 21, 2011

      The neon wasn't great but "small, gutless and gas hungry" are words that really don't describe it. It's 132-hp SOHC 2.0 wasn't much fun at lower speeds, at least with the stock 3 speed automatic, but once you got that thing to 70 mph, it was eager and returned 40 mpg. Thanks to its "cab-forward" design the interior was roomier than many larger cars.

  • Mazder3 Mazder3 on Jun 21, 2011

    I know this has been said before but it bears repeating: Why can't Fiat bring up the Linea from Brazil and rebadge it as a neon? The Linea is almost exactly the same width, same weight and a few inches taller and longer than the neon. With the 1.4t it should break 40 mpg. If Fiatsler did this, would it be the first time a Dodge was based on a GM chassis?

  • Djn Djn on Jun 22, 2011

    Linea probably fails to meet crash standards. Heck, just bring over the Giulietta!

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