First production Dodge Caliber rolls off the line

The folks over at Dodge partied hard Wednesday when the first production Dodge Caliber rolled off the line.

The event holds special sentiment for Chrysler folks -- analysts pegged the Belvidere, Ill. plant as the first to appear on the chopping block a few years ago. Instead, Chrysler pored over $400 million into the plant and made it what will be one of the highest producing plants in the land.

The Caliber is expected to outsell the Neon, the vehicle it replaces, which we expect it to do without breaking a sweat thanks to its sub-$14K starting price. The Belvidere plant will also produce the Jeep Compass and Patriot.