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| Pull off the road, and the ground clearance is enough to keep you out of trouble |
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The Pacha nightclub in Ibiza. Odd choice of venue for the press launch of the Dodge Caliber but, apparently, Dodge and Ibiza have a lot in common. "They're both bold; irreverent; in-yer-face," shouted the Dodge spokesman over the music, as he stood in front of a stage on which two bored and beautiful girls gyrated around the meaty, muscular shape of the new Caliber.
The music stopped. "Right, you've had the disco bit," said the spokesman to the assembled journalists. "You can turn your hearing aids back on now." And he proceeded to explain how the Dodge Caliber is, despite its looks, a five-door C-segment car. In other words, this SUV-lookalike is a rival to such familiar faces as the Mazda3, Ford Focus and VW Golf. And that will be the key to its success - this part of the car market is dominated by the volume brands, but what if you don't want to drive a bread-and-butter car? What if you want to stand out from the crowd? Meet the Caliber.
"It's masculine and expressive," said Mr Dodge, explaining how the Caliber will appeal to men positively dripping with testosterone; brash young men who like to make a statement. The 50-something male journalist sitting next to me took a swig from his compulsory glass of Malibu and coconut milk, and muttered: "Seems more likely to appeal to those who aspire to masculinity but haven't yet attained it."
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