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Smart Car!

When it began in the late 1990's, we could barely imagine when the Micro Compact Car, as it was called then, would join the world’s largest automotive marketplace, the United States.

So they want to take a second and say thanks to you; Their 12,000 dedicated forward-thinking and eco-friendly Smart Cars of America newsletter members and Their tens of thousands of viewers. Many of you have been part of the family since the start.

The Smart Fortwo will be available directly from the manufacturers authorized distributor of the Smart Car in America, smartusa a division of United Auto Group.

Bringing the Smart Car to America has taken years of research, required considerable perseverance - and it has been a process that has been painstakingly slow and we would like to thank Daimler Chrysler's and the authorized distributor United Auto Group.

Now that the renamed smart fortwo coupé and smart fortwo cabrio will soon be offered throughout this country, they look forward to working together with smart auto groups and alternative vehicle consumers, dealers and service providers to the benefit of all.

In the end it will have been worth the effort. Soon we’ll all be driving Smart, but until then, Smart Cars of America will continue driving innovation and continue to think Smart for the future.

Rest assured, we’ll be thinking Smart for many years to come.

We’ve been thinking Smarter for many years, our highly-targeted web sites have been up and running for almost seven years- long before most others- and are already some of the leading web sites in North America for all things Smart.

In fact, we created the first marketing campaigns ever dedicated to the consumer for Smart Cars, Electric Vehicles , and Alternative automotive transportation. We provide ongoing, up-to-date information to today’s Smart consumers and offer unparalleled support to all Smart and alternative owners and enthusiasts.

Smart Car of America is now the comprehensive leader in forward-thinking automotive information and has emerged as the foremost source for information on all things Smart, focused on the Smart Car and alternative transportation markets.

For more than seven years, we’ve led the market for investigation, research and analysis of the sub-compact, electric and alternative car markets.

Our team has test-driven countless intelligent automobiles, including the complete line of the Smart brand cars , various alternative vehicles and other noteworthy cars.

The Smart Car of America team makes every effort to supply today’s demanding consumers with timely information about the Smart, Electric and Alternative vehicles. Unlike traditional car sites, we offer all of the most highly sought after vehicles to our clients, advertisers and the general public.

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

Smart Car Prices

Greetings Kip,

Last year the petite Smart Fortwo lured shoppers into smart center showrooms, most of which sell additional makes and models.

The super-mini Smart Fortwo helped boost sales of the dealers' other brands and in 2008, Smart USA centers sold 24,622 Smart units, making America No. 3 "in the world" in Smart car purchases.

Smart officials are usually hesitant to discuss sales targets for the U.S., but analysts say that Smart sales for 2009 will maintain sales volume despite falling gas prices.

However, David Schembri, president of USA, expects sales of Smart cars to reach about 25,000 in the U.S. for 2009.

Smart is making inroads into the U.S. automotive market.

Daimler's car2go car-sharing program will begin next month in Austin, Texas.

Brabus launched an all-electric Smart Fortwo and showed it off at this year's Geneva Auto Show.

Its Fortwo Brabus is powered by state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries provided by Tesla Motors.

All 2008 Smart owners should be getting a letter to schedule (with their smart center) updates for their 2008 Smart Car. The most important one is the transmission update to the 2009 version. If you do not get a letter you should contact your smart center.

This will upgrade your 2008 operating mode to the 2009 version. Improving the cars transmission and allowing you to switch to manual mode by touching the paddles.

Other updates depend on the production date/VIN number, there are a total of 9 possible updates.

Winter is nearly over; signaling the end to what has been a very unpleasant season throughout the United States. We hope that the potholes that are waiting for us will not severely damage our cars.

Please keep in mind that with the Smart's firmer-than-normal ride, your car's wheels suffer less damage when rolling than when skidding across the hole upon impact, so don't apply your brakes.

Once you've slammed into a monster, take your Smart to a Smart USA center, for a checkup.

Cheers,

Your Smart Car of America Team

Smart Car 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 2.5m (98.4 in) 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.

smart Fortwo cabrioletThe 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. 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 the Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch.

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 DaimlerChrysler announced that it would also cancel the Forfour and redesign the Fortwo to debut in Europe in 2007.

An electric, rechargeable version is being released in the UK, by a separate company, as a lease vehicle on a limited basis.

Smart Car 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) News article

Smart Car smart in North America

Smart Car Canada

The smart Fortwo was introduced in Canada in late 2004 and sold through Mercedes-Benz dealers. Only the 799cc turbo-diesel powerplant (CDI) is available for the time being for the coupe and convertible models because of emission regulations for the gasoline engines dictated by Transport Canada. 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.

Smart Car United States

Smart cars are currently only available in the United States as "grey market" imports. 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, Daimler-Chrysler confirmed that smart will be officially launched in the United States in 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. Initially, only an updated Fortwo will be offered. 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 $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 120 to 150 miles, a top speed of 80 mph, 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.