The 2012 Caliber's interior will likely use many Fiat-designed parts, yielding higher interior materials quality. The 2009 Fiat Linea is shown here as an example.
The current generation Caliber has been a distant competitor in the compact-car sales race, hampered by unrefined powertrains, choppy ride quality, excessive noise, and visibly cut-rate interiors. Being a Chrysler product hasn’t helped either, what with the company’s reputation for mediocre workmanship and dealer service now further tainted by a well-publicized slide into bankruptcy. While the 2012 Dodge Caliber promises to be far better than the car it replaces, it must overcome some huge hurdles to improve Chrysler’s image and thus public confidence in the automaker’s future. Which means that it will have to be nothing short of brilliant, a tall order even for vaunted Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and his teams on both sides of the Atlantic.
