Buyers line up for tiny Smart Car

[Merc1]

DETROIT -- More than 20,000 people have put down $99 deposits to buy a Smart car when the boxy two-seaters built by DaimlerChrysler AG go on sale in January.

"The response has been overwhelming," David Schembri, president of Smart USA, said at a presentation Tuesday in Detroit of the car, aptly called the Fortwo.

Although the 8.8-foot-long Fortwo was designed primarily for city driving, he said the company is also hearing from many prospective buyers in rural areas.

The venture bringing the Smart car to the United States expects it will have signed up between 45 and 60 dealers by the launch date in January, Schembri said.

The Smart car, produced by DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes Car Group, will be sold in the United States through a distribution agreement with Roger Penske, former auto racer and head of the United Auto Group.

Mercedes dealers account for just over 60 percent of the dealers who are preparing to sell the Smart car.

Despite its diminutive size, auto journalists and consultants who test-drove the car briefly found it surprisingly roomy.

Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power and Associates, said that when he rolled the seat back, he had more legroom than in his sport-utility vehicle.

"I'm six-foot-three and my head's nowhere near the roof," he said.

Buyers line up for tiny Smart car

Could Smart really be on to something here in the U.S?

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[Merc1]

Similar Article:

Tiny Smart car gets big draw

More than 20,000 people pay $99 deposit to be among first in U.S. to buy two-seater.

Christine Tierney / The Detroit News


Charles V. Tines The Detroit News

The iconic Fortwo two-seaters built by DaimlerChrysler AG go on sale in January. Smart USA will be based at a dealer in Bloomfield Hills.

Prospective buyers are forming a long line to buy a very short car.

More than 20,000 people have put down $99 deposits to buy Smart cars when the iconic two-seaters built by DaimlerChrysler AG go on sale in January.

"The response has been overwhelming," David Schembri, president of Smart USA, said at a presentation in Detroit Tuesday of the boxy, 8.8-foot car, called the Fortwo.

Michigan residents will have a chance to test drive the car next week when Smart brings five Fortwos to the Ann Arbor South University Art Fair as part of a cross-country road show.

Kat Dougherty, an information systems manager from Columbus, is thinking of putting down a deposit after seeing a Fortwo recently in Port Huron.

The owner rode in from Canada, where the Fortwo has been on sale since 2004. "He told me it got great gas mileage, around 49 to 50 miles per gallon," Dougherty said.

The car that will be sold in the United States is based on the second-generation model recently launched in Europe.

Built by the Mercedes Car Group at a factory in France, it will be available in three trim levels with a base price of less than $12,000.

It will be sold in the United States through a distribution agreement with Detroit magnate Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Automotive Group. Smart's U.S. headquarters will be at a dealership in Bloomfield Hills.

The car's U.S. launch is crucial to the future of the Smart business, which has been downsized radically in the past two years after losing more than $4 billion since its introduction in 1998.

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche has eliminated a Smart four-seater and plans for a Smart SUV to refocus the brand on the Fortwo, the first and most memorable model in the range.

In the past nine years, 770,000 Fortwos have been sold worldwide, and the car has a cult following in some European capitals.

Schembri would not give U.S. sales forecasts, but said he expected the recent rise in gas prices to bolster demand for the car. He said the car will get more than 40 miles per gallon in combined highway-city driving, helping to improve the U.S. fuel-economy ratings of the soon-to-be-renamed Daimler AG.

On the other hand, people wonder how such a small car would withstand a collision with a pickup or SUV, he said. "The first question people ask is, is the car safe?"

Schembri said the occupants are protected by "a reinforced steel frame that acts much like a Nascar roll cage." That frame, called a tridion safety cell, will be on display in showrooms.

In addition to its diminutive size, the car has other limitations that may restrict its appeal in the U.S. market, said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at J.D. Power and Associates. Its top speed is 91 mph and it seats only two.

"After an initial surge of excitement, it will level off as a niche vehicle in this market," Libby said.

He expects Smart will end up with a smaller slice of the American market than BMW's Mini, which has sold around 40,000 vehicles in each of the past two years. "To me, this is more of a niche than the Mini."

Tiny Smart car gets big draw

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[PanterroR]

Oh how disappointed they will be...

 

[wltsm]

Good to see the Smart car is having success somewhere!