SMART coming to the U.S., Penske to distribute
Dieter Zetsche came to Detroit today to announce some pretty big news... not so much that SMART is coming to the U.S. (that was the worst kept secret of June 2006), but rather that Roger Penske and UnitedAuto Group Inc. will be the one doing the honors.
The SMART ForTwo will be offered in the States starting in 2008, giving DaimlerChrysler enough time to get the vehicle's safety ratings up to snuff. The automaker expects to unload 20,000 units a year -- an aggressive goal given the fact that SMART currently sells 40,000 units in 36 countries per year. The car will go head-to-head with BMW's MINI brand, which will be redesigned for the 2007 model year.
Penske owns UnitedAuto Group Inc., the second-largest dealer group in the United States.
[Source: Reuters, Automotive News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Source1 12:22PM (6/28/2006)
These will sell!
Reply
jl 12:24PM (6/28/2006)
Never mind SMART! Just bring the B-Klass they were planning to import into US before the US dollar went up. I think the size of the B-Klass will be more suitable to US costumers' need.
Reply
Erik 12:25PM (6/28/2006)
Cool, I've seen a couple of these driving around Bellevue, Wa recently and was wondering when they would finally go stateside.
Reply
J 12:41PM (6/28/2006)
how is this going against the mini? aren't they in completely different classes and cater to completely different people?
Reply
GhostDoggy 12:41PM (6/28/2006)
Why not ask for the 1 or 2 series BMW? And who the heck is going to hold their breadth for 18-months, minimally?
Reply
John P. Hedin aka DrSmart 12:45PM (6/28/2006)
Daimler is a pioneer in auto production-but who told the financial wizards of Stuttgart-Unterturkeim that they were small car experts. Ever since the infamous A "class"(?) failure in the Elk Test- where a Swedish auto journalist was injured in a roll-over during the maneuver-Mercedes has added it's vehicle stability control systems to try to control driver behavior. Other great handling innovations are electric power steering on the forTwo and the famous torsion beam rear axle on the Mitsubishi chassis of the forFour. Up until 2 years ago the SLK featured recirculating ball steering as an example of their "engineering excellence". They finally adopted rack & pinion on the latest CLK but the Crossfire was still built on the old chassis. Mercedes should have sold smart to either Peugeot/Citroen or Renault-but they probably know that the car is toast. Wait till the Fiat New 500 and Ford KA come out in 2007-affordsble- 4 passenger seating and 50 MPG! The basic problem with the forTwo is that it is over priced-poor performance-quirky transmission-and that it only seats 2. Whenever I go to the Netherlands I see very few forTwos-the Dutch are too practical and family oriented. Yes I know there are swarms of them in Rome a lot in London & Paris-but you cannot park them at right angles to the curb-8' 2"- or longer than an original Humvee is wide! and don't count on parking in with motor scooters as they do in Rome-you will get a parking ticket. a SMART idea will be to build a 4 passenger city car- 10' long-like the original mini with Front Wheel Drive- but tall- and price it at about $12,000, plus earn a 5 star NCAP crash rating along with 40/50 MPG. Since D/C seems determined to sell smart in the U. S. thru the Penske "Group"-we need to help them develop some smart marketing slogans-here are a few they might want to consider. smart-burns ca$h not gas ! smart concept-Mercedes didn't lose any sweat on the details. smart-the car for people with more money than sense. smart-any car that needs to carry more than 2 people and 2 sacks of groceries is DUMB! smart-who actually needs a spare tire or an oil drain plug any way! smart-the more they cost-the more precious they become. Introducing the new 2007 smart-suddenly it's 1998 all over again. I also wonder if the 660cc gas engines from MITSUBISHI that will be featured in the 2007 forTwo's will still say MERCEDES on the valve cover- hoping to preserve the heritage of German engineering excellence. The smart forTwo must be judged as a CAR not a marketing concept or museum piece. Remember, 65% depreciation over 3 years in the UK - massive incentives and continuing reduced sales world wide do not bode well-the smart math really doesn't add up.
Reply
gbh 12:53PM (6/28/2006)
I'm just waiting for the Chrysler DoT/EPA package. That way it'll be easy to grey-market a few used ones in.
Reply
JS 1:02PM (6/28/2006)
So when do the Brabus Versions come? Hehe, looking forward to smoking my Smart tires :)
Reply
Hal 1:03PM (6/28/2006)
At least #5 isn't bitter....
Reply
Glenn A. 1:07PM (6/28/2006)
OK I just HAVE to add something here.
2006 SMART car.
2 seats.
Room for a couple of bags (squish).
3-start NCAP euro crash test rating.
4.7-4.8 litres/100 km fuel economy in Euro tests(current 45kw gasoline turbo engine, automatic) - not forgetting that the possibility of a diesel in the US is probably nil.
Price - estimated on autoblog comments previously, at up to $20,000 US.
Emissions - they'll be able to make it pass the needed emissions by 2008 with the new Mitsubishi engine, but 660cc and a turbo thrashing about is not going to make things easy.
2006 Toyota Prius
5 seats.
A trunk (and split folding REAR seats for lots of room if only 2, 3 or 4 seats are needed).
5-star NCAP euro crash test rating.
4.3 litres per 100 km. fuel economy in Euro tests. (BETTER fuel economy than the SMART For Two).
Price from $21,000 US right now.
The car pollutes 11% as much as the current California emission requirement. Right now.
Yeah, it's a real SMART car, all right.
Reply
CJ 1:24PM (6/28/2006)
Yeah! How fun!
All of you nay-sayers need to get off yer high-horses. This is NOT a car for everyone, but there are people out there that will be very happy with one of these. It's all about choices people... now we have one more, whether you like it or not.
Reply
dave 1:34PM (6/28/2006)
You know, while these will make phenomenal city cars--for those with too much money to buy a moped--they raise an interesting question: A lot is made about how they can fit two of these in a parking spot. But how does that work when there's ony one meter? Who pays? Hmm.
Reply
Ian 1:53PM (6/28/2006)
>This is NOT a car for everyone
Your right. It's not for people with common sense.
Glenn is right; This car make no sense when there are much better alternatives for the money.
Hell, buy a toyota yaris and the cash you save on the purchase will pay for 135,000 miles worth of gas and you'll have a car that can last that many miles.
I'll be laughing at the smucks who buy this car...unless someone here can state a compelling reason that makes this car worthwhile.
Reply
GOKARTN 2:00PM (6/28/2006)
I have a friend in the UK who has a MINI and once had a Smart. They are really not in the same class. What made the MINI popular in the US is that it is a small, yet a premium car with handling better than most sports cars. Most owners see the MINI as a British sports car with a backseat and a hatchback.
The Smart on the other hand does not handle really well, it's very slow, it's plastic body panels have a cheap look to them and it will likely cost the same as a mini and it's a 2 seater.
The Smart will do a "boutique" business, for a small group of people in limited places, but not much more beyond that. That's alright, we all can't drive Accords.
Reply
matt 2:01PM (6/28/2006)
#9, how SMART will you feel when your $8000 battery dies and all the SMART car has had to do was a routine oil change every 3k miles? get off your high horse buddy. besides, once all you smug Prius owners' batteries die, what are we gonna do with all the nasty heavy metals that you had to have to get your 50mpg?
and emmissions won't be that bad either. 'cause we all know how hard it is to get a turbo car to pass emmissions...especially one with 60hp.
Reply
Scott Eaton 2:06PM (6/28/2006)
I still want one of these. I live in San Francisco and can't park anywhere. The bane of SF parking is - garage doors! There are many spots locally that are Miata/Mini sized at most - to shave off even more length would be a bonus.
Reply
Scott Eaton 2:11PM (6/28/2006)
12, that argument is old. there are recycling programs for those batteries for the plastics and heavy metals - plus they have longer support for those items. Plus, what kind of "replacement" item will they offer in the ~10 years that pass?
Reply
Scott Eaton 2:13PM (6/28/2006)
Dave, mopeds aren't all-weather and don't hold two people and where do you put your groceries?
(That said, I'm finally taking a motorcycle training course (MSF) to expand my options and -cough- have fun.)
Reply
KML 2:19PM (6/28/2006)
I got the chance to be in a friend's smart car...let's just say that it feels like it can go 0-60 in N/A.
Reply
matt 2:28PM (6/28/2006)
#14, and im sure those recycling programs only produce bunny rabbits and clowns as emissions, right? besides, how exactly does one recycle lithium?
"hey guys, did you know my coke can is made of recycled lithium?"
sure a prius may produce fewer CO2 emissions or whatever, but i'm not impressed. little diesel cars, and honda's from the 80's were/are doing better than that by 10-15, even 20 mpg.
Reply