SMART News:SMART Could Be the Next Dead Brand

[Drew Dowdell]

SMART may be the next brand heading for that great parking lot in the sky.  German newspaper Handelsblatt has reported that the brand's fate may be decided by the end of this year.  CEO Dieter Zetsche is leaving in May to be succeeded by Olin Kallenius.  Mr. Kallenius has no strong love for the brand, established in 1998 and is said to be more than willing to kill the brand if finances warrant it. 

Since birth, SMART has lost billions of euros for Daimler, though the company does not break out financials by brand. 

Back in 2017, SMART revamped its lineup into an EV only brand, further denting sales while increasing costs.  The current Smart FourTwo and FourFour are a joint effort with automaker Renault who markets the vehicle as the Renault Twingo.  Renault is reportedly reluctant to renew that cooperation for the next generation of the car.  SMART's sales have fallen to around 128,000 units a year as of 2018.

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[surreal1272]

Was it ever really alive to begin with? Those cars took “POS” to a whole other level. 

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Was it ever really alive to begin with? Those cars took “POS” to a whole other level. 

They were popular in Europe for a while. 

[A Horse With No Name]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Was it ever really alive to begin with? Those cars took “POS” to a whole other level. 

Quoted for Truth....

 

[G. David Felt]

SMART Cars were a joke, premium fuel required for subpar fuel economy. Does not matter that they built a cage that could stay together when hitting a cement wall at 70mph, the human was still hamburger.

Yea, time for Smart to Die and go to the history books in the Sky. Same place Fiat needs to go and Alfa should have remained.

[Scout]

I forget who said it, I believe I read it here, but I'm going to quote it without a name.

 

"There is absolutely nothing redeemable about that car."

It's sad when the only press I see for it is from a local *celebrity mechanic. Every now and then I see one on the road and I ask myself who would buy this thing and what were they thinking.  I like to get a look of the person driving to understand what demographic is paying money for such a thing.

 

[Drew Dowdell]

I still think SMART should become the entry brand to Benz.  Partner with someone to make SMART into a Chevy/Ford/Hyundai/Honda fighter. 

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, Scout said:

I forget who said it, I believe I read it here, but I'm going to quote it without a name.

 

"There is absolutely nothing redeemable about that car."

It's sad when the only press I see for it is from a local *celebrity mechanic. Every now and then I see one on the road and I ask myself who would buy this thing and what were they thinking.  I like to get a look of the person driving to understand what demographic is paying money for such a thing.

In Seattle for some weird reason, woman in their 40's usually Vegan are the most common buyers. The Vegan group here at work all own them. It is a very interesting group of people.

[ccap41]

7 people will be disappointed. 

[surreal1272]

3 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They were popular in Europe for a while. 

And apparently even their love affair with them didn’t last. They absolutely had no shot in the U.S. and with good reason.

[smk4565]

They should kill that brand .  Daimler has better places to spend money.

[regfootball]

5 hours ago, dfelt said:

In Seattle for some weird reason, woman in their 40's usually Vegan are the most common buyers. The Vegan group here at work all own them. It is a very interesting group of people.

"How do you know someone is vegan?  Don't worry, they'll ***** tell you"

[ocnblu]

Final nail was their changeover to all-EV.  TAKE A HINT, BARRA!

[balthazar]

Quote

Back in 2017, SMART revamped its lineup into an EV only brand, further denting sales while increasing costs.

Well.... that's certainly unusual.

Edited March 27, 2019 by balthazar

[riviera74]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

Final nail was their changeover to all-EV.  TAKE A HINT, BARRA!

Smart cars were never a big seller here in the first place.  No need for Mary Barra to take a hint since she will not turn ALL GM vehicles into EVs.  There is still room for ICE cars for the next decade or so.

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

Final nail was their changeover to all-EV.  TAKE A HINT, BARRA!

Sorry but all of their cars came with those very nails.It had jack to do with any EV plans and it is pure trolling and foolish to think that it was when their sales (and their cars) have been garbage since day one.

[G. David Felt]

3 hours ago, regfootball said:

"How do you know someone is vegan?  Don't worry, they'll ***** tell you"

That is so true of them here. They are more than willing to ******* tell you!  

[ocnblu]

Sorry but all of their cars came with those very nails.It had jack to do with any EV plans and it is pure trolling and foolish to think that it was when their sales (and their cars) have been garbage since day one.

Take a look at sales data and then report back.  Immediately.  Around here, still see a good few first-gen Smarts.  Hardly ever see the "bigger, better" second gen.  And ZILCH Smart electrics.

[daves87rs]

FORGOT THET WERE EVEN AROUND.........

[G. David Felt]

Seems geely has bought them from Diamler as it was loosing 500 to 700 million a year.

Mercedes To Sell Half Of Smart Car Subsidiary To Geely, Financial Times Says

http://flip.it/8rqhkX

[regfootball]

19 hours ago, dfelt said:

That is so true of them here. They are more than willing to ******* tell you!  

if you google that there are tons of threads and memes that make fun of the vegans because they do that.

14 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Sorry but all of their cars came with those very nails.It had jack to do with any EV plans and it is pure trolling and foolish to think that it was when their sales (and their cars) have been garbage since day one.

Take a look at sales data and then report back.  Immediately.  Around here, still see a good few first-gen Smarts.  Hardly ever see the "bigger, better" second gen.  And ZILCH Smart electrics.

when i sold the cars a few years back, we got a smart on trade and i took it for a spin.  The whole automanual trans and lawn mower engine was hugely primitive.  Obviously a funky little rig, but no f-cking way in hell i would want to be in a head on with a suburban in one of those things.

Smart should refocus their marketing and try to appeal to those who want neighborhood cars or cars for things like rental property managers to drive around on site from building to building.

[ocnblu]

9 hours ago, regfootball said:

if you google that there are tons of threads and memes that make fun of the vegans because they do that.

when i sold the cars a few years back, we got a smart on trade and i took it for a spin.  The whole automanual trans and lawn mower engine was hugely primitive.  Obviously a funky little rig, but no f-cking way in hell i would want to be in a head on with a suburban in one of those things.

Smart should refocus their marketing and try to appeal to those who want neighborhood cars or cars for things like rental property managers to drive around on site from building to building.

Are they smart enough for that?