SMART (AUTOMOBILE)

'smart' (formerly MCC smart) is a brand of microcars and superminis based in Böblingen, Germany. It is marketed as the "smart" in all lower case, as in the logo. The current smart brand logo (seen on the right) denotes a C for "Compact" and an arrow for "forward thinking".
The name of the company, part of DaimlerChrysler, was changed from 'Micro Compact Car GmbH' to 'Smart GmbH' in September 2002. It was merged with Mercedes-Benz Group in 2006.

Contents

Company history

Electric version

Models

Smart in North America

Canada

United States

Mexico

Smart in popular culture

Criticism

Safety

See also

References

External links

Company history

The original idea behind the very short "smart car" is that the vehicle is easy to park. It is short enough to allow it to be parked "nose-in" where a conventionally sized car would have to parallel park. Its length of equals the width of a truck or a regular parking slot, allowing two or three smarts to park in the same space as one normal car if parked side-on to the usual parking direction.

The project idea was originally supported by Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch, and was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The name SMART is an acronym for ''Swatch Mercedes ART''.^[1][2] The car was supposed to use innovative features (such as a hybrid engine) and to be an affordable car for young people. Similar to the objective for the Citroën 2CV in the 1940s, its purpose was to "transport two people and a case of beer".
Being inexperienced in automobiles, Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek sought an established car maker to produce his Swatch car, and found a partner in Volkswagen. Plans never reached a final stage so Swatch teamed up with Daimler-Benz. The purpose-built factory complex ''Smartville'' in Hambach, Lorraine, France, was established in 1994 as a joint-venture of Daimler-Benz and Swatch.
An Australian dealer web site provides the following summary of the beginnings of the product:

"How everything begun: In 1993 Mercedes-Benz started a feasibility study on a subcompact car. Together with the Swatch Group Ltd. they founded the Micro Compact Car AG in 1994. The smart city-coupé celebrates its world première at the IAA in Frankfurt (Germany) in 1997 and is one year successfully launched in nine European countries. By now, the smart is available in 25 countries all over the world and was sold over 750.000 times."

The final car design proved to be far from Hayek's expectations: its engine technology was more expensive than many small 4 and 5 seater cars sold in Europe. The joint venture experienced heavy losses and Swatch pulled out.
In 2005, DaimlerChrysler decided against purchasing a 50% share in the Dutch NedCar plant used to manufacture the Forfour supermini. DC also halted development on the Formore and decided to discontinue production of the Roadster.
In 2006, after dwindling sales smart GmbH was liquidated and its operations transferred with the Mercedes-Benz group. It was later revealed that smart GmbH took nearly 4 billion euros of losses in the period from 2003 to 2006. [1]
In the same year, DaimlerChrysler announced that it would also cancel the Forfour and redesign the Fortwo to debut in Europe in 2007.

Electric version

Main articles: Smart EV

An electric, rechargeable version is being released in the UK, by a separate company, as a lease vehicle on a limited basis. At the Smart Car Brooklands event [2] in July 2007, a Smart EV was on display within "MercedesWorld" and a representative stated that the car would be for sale in the UK in 2010.

Models

Apart from the original short smart Fortwo, a sporty smart Roadster and a supermini smart Forfour were also offered. These have now been discontinued. There were also plans to introduce a small off-roader called the Formore but development of this was cancelled as a result of spending cutbacks.

★ Fortwo

★ Forfour

★ Roadster

★ Formore

★ smart EV (At the moment only trialing, expected for Q3 2007 in UK)^[3]

Smart in North America

Canada

The smart Fortwo was introduced in Canada in late 2004. It is sold through Mercedes-Benz dealers. Demand has been heavy with up to six month waiting lists in major urban areas in the spring of 2005. The vehicle has been especially popular for light errand running for small shops and businesses, with many carrying custom paint jobs or stick-on graphics boldly advertising the associated product or service. However, recently the demand seems to have tapered off, and some 2005 smart Fortwos have popped up in the used car market. Canadian smart CDIs cannot be registered in the US.
The 799cc turbo-diesel powerplant (CDI) is the only engine currently available for the coupe and convertible models. Transport Canada emission regulations would require re-engineering the entire fuel anti-evaporative system of the gasoline version originally planned for Canada. This was deemed to be too costly given the low Canadian sales projections. (Smart estimated approximately 800 to 1200 cars per year.) Because diesel fuel is not volatile, no such system is required for it, and hence no re-engineering is required.
As of June 1 2007, 9200 smart fortwo cdis had been sold in Canada, and as of the end of the model 450 production run, there were 10,241 of these cars in this country. This large stock is explained by the fact that the model 450 smart fortwo is now out of production after a run of 770,256 cars, so Mercedes-Benz Canada had to acquire a backlog to tide dealers over until the new model arrives at the end of 2007.
The Canadian version of the smart fortwo cdi sold to 915 customers over three months in 2004; 4080 were sold in 2005; and 3023 in 2006. Virtually all the deliveries in 2004 and many of the deliveries in 2005 were to long-time smart fans who had been waiting for their car for years, which largely accounts for the higher numbers. Although sales tapered off in late 2006 and the first couple of months of 2007, they rebounded strongly in March 2007 and this trend continued through April, culminating with May 2007, marking the car's strongest sales performance ever in Canada, at well over 500 units. Sales are strongest (per capita) in Western Canada, with Vancouver Island and Vancouver being especially hot markets for smart.

United States

Smart cars are currently only available in the United States as "grey market" imports, such as ZAP. U.S. federal regulations allow certain grey market importing in large quantities provided the vehicles are modified and tested to conform to U.S. safety and emissions regulations. Smart cars are imported into the United States by The Defiance Company LLC, modified by G&K Automotive Conversion, and distributed and sold by independent dealerships which are not affiliated with Mercedes. U.S. regulations do not permit the purchase and import of used smart vehicles from Canada, as the diesel powered Canadian smarts do not meet American emissions regulations.
In June 2006, DaimlerChrysler confirmed that smart will be officially launched in the United States in the first quarter of 2008. The cars will be offered through dealership holding company UnitedAuto Group, which is to create a new U.S. dealership network for the brand under the name smart USA.^[4] Initially, only an updated Fortwo will be offered, starting around $12,000.^[5] The new model made its debut in at European auto shows in November 2006.
Hybrid Technologies plans to sell an electric version of the smart vehicle in the U.S. starting at US$35,000. It is being called a hybrid car even though the vehicle is all-electric. The electric smart car will have a range of to , a top speed of , and charge in 5 to 6 hours using a standard 110V AC outlet. An electric smart is currently undergoing testing in the UK and will only be offered to commercial clients as a trial for the time being.^[6][7]

Mexico

Smart offers the Forfour and the Fortwo coupé in Mexico.^[8]

Smart in popular culture

Smart vehicles were used by the main characters in the following films:

★

★ A Good Year

★

★ Just Married

★ Maybe Baby

★ Salaam Namaste

★ Scary Movie 4

★ Scoop

★ The Pink Panther

★ The Da Vinci Code

★ Dark Angel (TV series)

★ The Italian Job

★ The smart Fortwo, in white with sky blue accents, has been used in several advertisement for the Wii video game system to resemble the colors of the console itself.
A Smart car also appeared in an episode of the British TV show ''Absolutely Fabulous''. Edina is being chauffeured around in the car and, since it only seats two people, Patsy must ride in the grossly undersized space behind the passenger seats.

Criticism

When Daimler-Chrysler announced the planned sale of Smart vehicles in the United States in 2008, a ''Forbes'' article^[9] claimed that the car is designed for tight European roads. North American roads are usually wider although city drivers may find a benefit of the Smart's size. Fuel efficiency in the city is lower than the 5-seat Toyota Prius, though its highway fuel efficiency is higher^[10][11] (However, the base price of the Prius is $22,175 (MSRP)(ref: autos.msn.com), compared to the Smart's base model 'Pure' at under $12,000.^[12]

Safety

Smart vehicles use a very small front crumple zone. The main structure of the car is a stiff structure called a ''Tridion'', which is designed to activate the crumple zones (if any) of a colliding vehicle.^[13] This design creates a very strong safety cell around the passengers. However, it also subjects them to higher forces during an accident than in a conventional car.^[14][15]

See also

★ Zytek

References

1. DaimlerChrysler Mercedes Smart ForTwo Hybrid
2. SMART
3. News article
4. smart Vehicles Go USA
5. [3]
6. The Smart EV: Coming Soon to the Public?
7. CBS News - "Pull Plug On High Gas Prices"
8. Smart.com Mexico homepage
9. http://www.forbes.com/2006/07/12/unsolicited-advice-advertising-meb_0712smart.html
10. http://www.toyota.co.uk/vs2/pdf/PS2_63_spec.pdf
11. Fourtwo Coupe
12. http://www.smartusa.com
13. smart USA web site - safety
14. EuroNCAP Crash test
15. EuroNCAP Crash test

External links

★ Smart (official site)

★ Smart USA (official site)

★

★ Club smart Car (largest North American smart Forum)

★ FQ101 Smart Car reference and modification site

★ onSMART the unofficial online smart magazine

★ evilution.co.uk Online smart car encyclopaedia

★ Smart Car 101: Photos, News and Specs

★ Smart exhibition at the MoMA

★ Video representing a Crash Test with a Smart