SMART Car shift in Dominant Paradigm

[Kf6pbg]

Mercedes's A-Class, the Smart car has only enough room for minimum people,
and this car will make us all ask ourselves "How much car do I really need?"
Does anyone really need to haul 4thousand pounds of Detroit-Iron around in their knapsacks wherever they might go, because they might move out of home once in a lifetime, or haul that refrige this year?

My first time I saw a Smart car was on I-84, a 50mph interstate that runs through Portland, and it was doing the same speed as the rest of us, 35mph in rush hour with room all around it in its lane. I imagine it could easily go slower as traffic congests with so many cars that only have one occupant inside but room for 3(inside) with a pickup bed or 5 in a typical domestic with a trunk.

I saw one parked 90degrees to the curb, sitting sideways where fat cars parked normal. What took us so long, and where are we going? The dominant paradigm will shift to smaller cars and mopeds as gas prices get adjusted to.
Kf6pbg

[GasSavers_Canuck]

The Smart is a great little car, but I'm afraid that they are pricing themselves out of the NA market. In Canada, I can pick up a base Yaris for a couple thousand $ less than a base fortwo. I get more car for less. I would think that if they could price the base model around $10K, they would sell like hotcakes.

[MetroMPG]

The high pricing irked me a bit too. But don't forget the Smart now comes with a $2k instant rebate from the ecoAUTO program (vs. the Yaris' $1k refund).

I'd be interested in comparing the depreciation of both cars as well. From what I've seen, used smarts command high resale amounts.

And Canuck - welcome to the site. Where do you live? (Roughly, if you don't want to give out specifics). Feel free to post a "hello" thread in the intro forum.

[cfg83]

Hello -

I think the Smart has always been pricey, even in Europe. From what I have read, even though the Smart "looks" like a success, they never reached the sales figures needed to make it profitable.

CarloSW2

[GasSavers_Adam]

From what I've read, the smart fortwo model has generally been a good success. I believe it has been the other smart models, the forfour and the roadster that were unprofitable and put the smart brand in the red. Not to mention wasting money creating the formore SUV.

I'm excited to see that the fortwo seems to be getting a warm welcome in the USA on the smart tour, and that more that 20,000 people have already reserved a fortwo. I only wish that the smart forwo CDI diesel was coming to the US as well, as that is the car I really wish to have.

I agree that the fortwo could meet 99% of my transportation needs (two people in our household).

[Mike T]

Originally Posted by Kf6pbg

Mercedes's A-Class, the Smart car .....

The A-Class is not the smart car! The A-Class has always been a 4/5 seater front wheel drive, whereas the smart car - introduced a year later, in 1998, is a rear engined two seater.

Over 28,000 people in the USA have put a $99 deposit on the new smart fortwo. In Canada the new gasoline model will start around $16K, but now it will include leather wheel and shifter, softouch automatic, and a few other items that are extra at the moment. Sure cheaper cars are available, but do they come with 4 airbags, electronic stability control, ABS, brake assist and so on?

Mercedes has sold over 10,000 smart fortwo diesels in Canada (we have all the VINs!) and that's not half bad.

I will be buying a variation of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class to complement my smart, the B-Class. It too is a FWD hatch with five seats, like a nicer/bigger Toyota Matrix. We should get it in October......

[Hockey4mnhs]

Thats a nice line up of cars you have going there and they get great fe i wish we could get more people to do that they would find out that there are some awesome little cars out there. The first time i saw a for two was driveing down center street in Omaha i have no idea how they got it but when i saw it i kinda freaked out like a there was a Ferrari there not a little tiny car.

[AIMWO4]

Don't know how a Yaris would do:

http://www.mylittleportal.com/smart-car-crash.html

[Mike T]

http://www.thesmart.ca/index.cfm?id=...nguage=english

[McPatrick]

The Smart has been out for quite a while in Europe already and in Europe we know what small cars are about. Connaisseurs so to speak (the Japanese themselves being the experts). Fact is that the Smart isn't that big of a succes in Europe because there is more bang for the buck to be had really. There are at least a dozen brands that offer small cars that are more practical and cost less. The Smart is only bought by people who want to pay extra for the prestige or image of the car if you will.
I saw a cool new Mitsubishi for example that kinda looks like the scetches of the new Toyota Aygo that is supposed to come to the US in 2008. Below some pics of the Mitsubishi i.