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Eensy-weensy Smart car getting a big embrace from U.S. drivers

Posted at 3:08 PM on 12 Nov 2007

The Smart car ForTwo is coming to a dealer near you this winter -- or at least, semi-sorta-near you. About 70 dealers around the U.S. will sell the eight-foot-long two-seater starting in January, and more than 30,000 people have put down $99 to reserve theirs. Drawing comparisons to a golf cart and eagerly awaited by urbanites frustrated by tight parking, the Smart car -- sold in 36 countries around the world -- "turns heads wherever it goes," says David Schembri, president of Smart USA. "I tell people, 'If you want to feel like a rock star, drive this car.'"

sources: USA Today, Salon

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Comments: (8 comments)

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smart car comments

Most folks in the US have no clue what these little "smart cars" are like, but they've been in Europe and around the world since 1998. Over 780,000 sold. Designed by Swatch. Safety-engineered and performance-engineered by Mercedes, it was an unlikely marriage of modern style and proud history of auto manufacturing. Though these new smart cars will be sold in America in mass in 2008, their older brother has been with us about 16 months. In 2003, an auto converter became frustrated by Mercedes' refusal to bring the smart car to the US since 1998. He went to the Department of Transportation and EPA and asked for permission to change the European models to meet US safety and emissions standards. After three years of work, he was granted that approval and began selling the Euro Design smart cars in April, 2006. Just two months later, Mercedes announced that they had changed their minds and would introduce an Americanized smart car in 2008. They will be distributed through Penske Automotive Group, not Mercedes. The 1000 converted models are now almost all on the streets across the country, but their selling prices are significantly higher than the 2008 models. Though the entry level smarts will be offered in 2008 at $12,000 according to their press releases, the currently available higher end converted smarts are at $26,900. The high cost of conversion, as well as the shipping and import costs from Europe forced this higher price.

Still, the owners of these cars have all shared their common feedback... there is no car, at any price, that will attract the positive attention from passers-by, than the smart car. It is not the miles/gallon. It is certainly not the price. It is the unique style and design, so different from any car on the road, that makes this car magical. As magical as the only prior car in history to bring these smiles to this country... the fifties Beetle. The new ones in 2008 will share this attraction with their older, but littler brother. Converted smarts are 8'-3". The new ones are 7" longer. Current ones have Mercedes engines. New ones have Mitsubishi's and are more powerful. The looks, however, will cause the same smiles. Get ready for this phenomenon, America. When you see one in person, you'll understand. There is no way to understand it until then. Over 35,000 folks have put down $99 to get in line for the new smarts. To add your name to the list, go to www.smartUSA.com. Get ready to smile. Smart cars will change America, one smile at a time.

Ron Gaus, aSmartCar.com

by RonGaus at 3:47 AM on 13 Nov 2007

Rock Star Feeling

More small cars for the US. At good step into the direction of driving only when necessary and with a vehicle that could be a basic solution to a transportation problem rather than an enjoyable activity surrounded by luxury.

Not driving is still better but if driving becomes a need and the vehicles reflect that "emergency" maybe people will consider driving less.

Feeling like a rock star is hopefully not what many people want. There are many choices of cars out there that have little to do with concern for the environment and could be a choice for a rock star.

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com

by PolluteLessDotCom at 1:56 PM on 13 Nov 2007

On the other hand...

I am going to throw up if I hear more about "styling" in context with concern for the environment. If the Smart car is about bringing smiles to Americans via its looks, being told how to feel while owning it, and the concern for the perception of other's only it is not very smart. It is the same dumb concept than SUVs, just smaller.

There are small cars on the market that make much more sense if driving a personal vehicle in the most efficient manner is the objective. Simple, small, long-lasting, locally manufactured, .. should be the goal.

Sorry, got to go.

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com

by PolluteLessDotCom at 2:10 PM on 13 Nov 2007

Popularity

Good or bad, most people buy their car according to what is popular. If small cars become popular, what's wrong with that? You have better chances of convincing people to switch to more economical cars with something that isn't only utilitarian like in Russia with the square Ladas a few years back.

by solar greg at 4:10 PM on 13 Nov 2007

Cute, but.

It's a real interesting little car, but why would I be interested in a 2 seat minicar that only gets 40 mpg highway when I can get a 4 or 5 seater that gets almost the same mileage for about the same price?

by KenG at 4:47 PM on 13 Nov 2007

Exactly

My current car is a 1997 Saturn station wagon and in the summer it gets 40mpg on the highway. Where has progress gone?

Little cars are great and (as I wrote) may encourage people to transition toward more reasonable driving. But not if the vehicle is primarily designed to create smiles. Because the design that creates the smiles will wear off and will be replaced with another way of creating smiles. The environment needs something a little less shallow than a fashionable car.

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.ocm

by PolluteLessDotCom at 4:38 AM on 14 Nov 2007

cute, but...

What's wrong with a few smiles while you do something good for the environment? I've seen many reports that say people choose hybrids--particularly the Prius--because it is so "identifiable" with concern for the environment and it makes these people feel good--it might even make them smile--to be doing good. Hybrid owners not only want to be good eco citizens, they want to be perceived by others as good eco citizens and to call attention to the cause that they feel so strongly about.

So, what's so different about a Smart car? It only gets 40 miles to the gallon, and it only seats 2? (I don't know why this is a problem...40 miles per gallon will be a SERIOUS upgrade from our two old cars and there are lots of cars that only seat two and people seem to keep buying them.)

We currently have 3 drivers (and a fourth off in college) and we live in a city with limited mass transit. We currently have three cars, but we are making a concerted effort to Think: Less! in our lives and so we are "downsizing" to two by trading in our 8-year old Acura as well as our 14-year old Volvo stationwagon. Since the two adults in the household have offices in our home (and, we work together), we don't think we'll feel the pinch of two cars/three drivers too badly. Our third car is a three-year old Scion that gets pretty decent mileage and can seat four. So...why not have a fun second car that makes a "think-less" statement?

Besides, we've looked at the alternatives to the Smart and it looks like, at least in our area we can get the safety features and a few nice upgrades (heated windows for wintery weather) for less than comparable four-seaters with similar mileage. We put our $99 deposit on a FourTwo several months ago, and we can't wait to get it.

Pearl Street::Jason and Kristina Makansi Read Lights Out reviews

by Kristina & Jason Makansi at 1:22 PM on 19 Dec 2007

Parking.

It's not about the fuel efficiency, for which the Smart has many competitors with far more flexible capacities - in a Yaris hatchback for example you can haul five adults or (small amounts of) lumber.

It's all about the parking, and in this regard the American experience may be very different. In many European cities on-street parking is not striped in bays and you're permitted to park nose to kerb, so a 5' x 8' car will fit where others don't. As most American cities mark their on-street parking in 24' x 8' bays, often single-metered, and parallel parking is the rule, either de facto or de jure, the Smart will have less advantage. Even more so in parking garages and surface lots. You could park two Smarts in a bay, one behind the other, if you can put up with the inconvenience of appropriately sequenced departure. If not, you're gaining nothing.

At the same time, small can be beautiful. Just sayin'.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

by spaceshaper at 2:22 PM on 19 Dec 2007

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