Way back in the '90's, Swatch and Mercedes decided to work together on a new and innovative car. Swatch was known for the changeability of their watch cases, one to match every mood. So why not a similar concept for a car? There are probably a ton of reasons, but they went ahead with it anyway and in late 1998, the smart car was unveiled to the European market. With Europe's crowded cities and narrow streets, little cars are the perfect solution. Easy to park? It sure is..........
.......a smart will fit in just about anywhere. A natural, right? So how did the market respond to this new arrival? Well, to say they were underwhelmed about sums it up. Even when the famous German tuner Brabus injected some additional power and character into a smart model, the sales still lingered........
After losing millions and millions (or much more), Mercedes decided to send it to North America, Canada to be specific. After an initial surge, the sales languished and it was eventually eased into the USA (thank you, distributor Roger Penske). It was also the heart of Mercedes "hourly rental/drop it anywhere" concept, the car2go. Started in major European cities and then brought to Canada, Benz was thinking of any way to use up production of their under performing brand.
So back to the disguised little number at the beginning of this blog. After losing what has been said to be billions on the smart, why is Benz investing even more in a brand new one? Now, that is a really good question.
As you can see, it looks much the same as the current one, but better proportioned. Also it will be available in a four door......
.........similar to the current smartforfour, which will still be available only in Europe. So, back to the question of why. Obviously Mercedes has had the money and determination to wait for the market to come around to the smart. Or maybe it is being just plain, old stubborn. Whatever, they are convinced that the world's crowded cities will create a hotbed of desire for the smart. A car whose time will finally come or maybe not, but you sure have to give them points for hanging in there.
This will be Mercedes' dream of the very near future........
.........row upon row of smarts in every city, patrolled by the latest in high tech smart police cruisers........
What do I think? Mercedes has way too much money. Why not simply give their AMG division more cash and tell them to add 100 HP more to all their performance models. A really good, if not a bit shortsighted solution.
Until next time..........
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