Smallest economy car yet heads for US market

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Smallest economy car yet heads for US market

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff | June 29, 2006

Pushing the economy-car frontier, DaimlerChrysler AG plans in early 2008 to sell a two-seat minicar in the United States, making available a vehicle that may be only slightly longer than some Hummers are wide, gets 40 miles per gallon, and will cost less than $15,000.

Just over 8 feet long and under 5 feet wide, with a top speed of 84 miles per hour, the SmartForTwo will be targeted at urban dwellers and commuters . The car's size makes it fuel efficient and easy to fit into tight parking spaces.

While the SmartForTwo is sold in more than 30 countries -- including France and Germany -- it may be a hard sell in the United States. Many American drivers have been reluctant to embrace small vehicles, because of either safety concerns or their allegiance to sport utility vehicles.

The car will easily be ``the smallest modern car" in the United States, said Joe Phillippi , president of AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, N.J.

DaimlerChrysler has sold 750,000 SmartForTwo models worldwide since 1998. In the United States, industry analyst Erich Merkle predicted, 15,000 to 20,000 of the cars will be sold here annually, far less than popular models like the Honda Civic, which has yearly sales of about 300,000.

``It's really going to be a niche-type product relegated to large cities on the East Coast and West Coast," said Merkle , director of forecasting for IRN Inc. , an automotive industry consulting firm in Grand Rapids, Mich.

``You're going to buy it because it's a little unique, a little funky, and you want to stand out," he said.

But a little funky may be too much for other parts of the country.

``People out here in Michigan would laugh at this thing," Merkle said. ``They'd show up in parades with clowns in them."

Nevertheless, DaimlerChrysler's US debut of the Smart brand may be shrewd , he said, similar to when Toyota launched its edgy Scion line to counter a ``stodgy" image among young consumers, Merkle said .

The vehicle's US debut has long been rumored and the subject of recent media reports, but until yesterday, DaimlerChrysler chairman Dieter Zetsche had not disclosed the company's plans.

A crop of small, fuel-efficient vehicles has recently been introduced to the US market, including the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit. Unlike the SmartForTwo, most are large enough to seat at least five .

The current version of the SmartForTwo weighs just 1,610 pounds, less than half the average weight of new cars sold in the United States in 2004. The company plans to sell a new generation of the vehicle here, though it has not specified how the car will differ .

DaimlerChrysler says the SmartForTwo is safe, despite its lack of heft.

The car has been engineered with high safety standards, a spokeswoman, Bettina Singhartinger said in an e-mail.

She said safety features include three layers of reinforced steel at all strategic points, full-size driver and passenger airbags, and a collapsible steering column.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety , a nonprofit research group funded by the automobile insurance industry, has not conducted safety tests on the car, said Russ Rader , director of media relations.

But citing the ``laws of physics," Rader said, ``If safety is a priority, you should steer clear of small cars. They are inherently less protected in crashes than larger vehicles."

Phillippi, the consultant, said he drove a Smart-brand car in Europe a few years ago and found it to be safe.

``It's a fun car to drive," he said. ``It's a perfect urban car for European cities with their narrow streets and parking restrictions."

Material from Globe wire services was used in this report. Chris Reidy can be reached at reidy@globe.com.
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I've seen a few smart cars around town already. I would totally buy one of these, it fits my lifestyle, but that's of course if I decided that I need a car. Besides the fuel efficiency, I'd say the biggest plus is parking. you could easily squeeze in to that spot next to a fire hydrant that other cars can't grab.
 
Before you know it, they are going to making a car small enough to fit in your bathtub.
 
LeTaureau said:
I've seen a few smart cars around town already. I would totally buy one of these, it fits my lifestyle, but that's of course if I decided that I need a car. Besides the fuel efficiency, I'd say the biggest plus is parking. you could easily squeeze in to that spot next to a fire hydrant that other cars can't grab.
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And they could probably pull in head first rather than parallel park. They look about as long as a normal car is wide.
 
No offense, LeTaureau, and I mean that sincerely, I dont mean to offend you, but I think anyone who would drive one of these is nuts. Imagine how it would handle in a windstorm or during the winter. The only thing I can see them being good for is to get around on a small island with virtually no other cars on the road. In boston these would be disastrous, i cant even imagine the road rage that would result from these things weaving in and out of traffic lanes.
 
If this is to be a true economy car it damn well better be less than $15,000, which will already buy a nice fuel efficient car (my Sedan is a non hybrid and gets 38mpg for Christ sake) that isn't a highway deathtrap. When these buggers were introduced in France they had a 5mph bumper, I saw one get creamed by speeding Mercedes taxi by the Ecole Militaire. The smart car driver was taken away on a backboard in rather upsetting state. Yes they are better than motor scooters due to being enclosed and having storage, which is why everyone in Europe loves them in older city centers, and they can literally turn within a non existent radius for parking. But being small and nifty only gets one so far until someone going 65 hits you or someone in a SUV drinking coffee on a cell phone doesn't see the little car and squishes it. Even with the American safety cage, these cars should be for driving on city streets or small rural communities where high speed traffic is not a major concern.
 
I think they'd work fine in Boston. I'd just be alittle nervous about taking it on any kind of highway.
 
I wouldn't want to drive one on a highway either, but I also wouldn't drive a motor scooter on a highway, and to me a smart car is an enclosed four wheel motor scooter. Some one mentioned it before, but that's why they are so popular in Europe, for getting around cramped cities, similar to a motor scooter. As for winter driving, I'd bet that they are terrific in the snow. When you're that close to the road, you feel like you're in complete control of the car, especially if its a stick shift. Minis are awesome in the snow, and fun too! These modern SUVs with all wheel drive and four wheel drive have these mechanical advantages because the driver is so far removed from the actual road.
 
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I thought they where bringing the sedan version to the US? When I was in Rome last year they had just started selling the sedan and word was getting out about the SUV version (it was just a concept, which to me looked more like something that Americans would embrace as it is still smaller than most every other car on the road here). In cities like Rome, you see them everywhere because of the street patterns and sizes which are reflected, in many instances, here in Boston. And believe it or not, they drive a lot more frantically in Rome, a place where no pedestrian has the right of way.

But as much of a European city Boston tends to be likened to, we still have a highways cutting through and surrounding us and we have a very interactive relationship with our surrounding suburbs and area that we commute to and from that would just debunk all necessity and rationality of these cars here.

But overall, I think they'd fit. With Boston being a city of neighborhoods and congested squares and pedestrian traffic and informal street patterns and all of these things characteristic of the aim these cars have for a consumer, I think we will see them zipping through Harvard Square and parked on Newbury St. if not for practicality then simply for fashion.
 
LeTaureau said:
When you're that close to the road, you feel like you're in complete control of the car, especially if its a stick shift. Minis are awesome in the snow, and fun too! These modern SUVs with all wheel drive and four wheel drive have these mechanical advantages because the driver is so far removed from the actual road.
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Those modern SUVs have mechanical advantages, but their heft also means they behave (and ride) like crap compared to your average sedan. Yeah, if you're driving anything smaller than an SUV or full-size pickup you're gonna get smooshed if you collide at 65 MPH -- that goes without saying. A Toyota Yaris ( or heck, a '90s Ford Fiesta or Hyundai Excel) is only marginally bigger than a Smart, yet I'm sure their owners take them onto the highway with minimal, if any, hesitation. If anything, I think I'd personally be more concerned with a stiff crosswind than an accident on a highway.

And it seems the cage frame system (Tridion Safety Cell)they got keeps the passenger compartment intact rather well - note how in the video above and the one I posted below that the windshield didn't spiderweb or do anything worse, even though the S class penetrated right up to it.

But one last point is that with a Smart, you're getting an agile car that has the ability to maneuver around obstacles much better - active safety - than an SUV which gives their occupants the security of having momentum/ weight on their side, which is passive safety. Two very different ways of protecting the occupants.

Having said that, the way how the Smart reeled back and spun around like a toy car was a bit startling.


In this vid, they first show a Smart against an S Class, again, but this time it looks like the Smart doesn't roll, although they cut the shot too early to tell for sure. They then demonstrate how it survives going into a concrete barrier at 70 mph. Again, the windshield stays intact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s
 
Whether or not the car's cabin gets crushed or not has little to do with the people' condition that were in the car at the time of crash. For the most part (I'm going to guess 90% of the time) people don't get injured from other cars breaking through into the cabin and making contact with the driver. People get hurt when the car stops suddenly and they bash their bodies against some part of the interior (steering wheel, winshield, side door etc etc). Basically all this video advertises is that the car won't crush if it gets hit by a pickup truck. This is irrelevant because the truck is going to transfer more force into the smart car than the smart car transfers into the truck which will result in a more powerful start or stop inside the smart car cabin.

I doubt smart cars will succeed in the states. The interior looks tiny. I'm about 6'5 and I can tell from the video that getting into one of these things would be like squeezing into an airline seat. I'm sure though, that they'll do a hell of a job marketing these to idealists.
 
I'd happily drive this in the city or on a highway, but I wonder how well it would do trying to climb the big hill on Route 2 in Arlington.
 
Back in 1999 when I went to England, they were EVERYWHERE. We even visited a smart car dealership and I couldnt even fit in one (literally)
 
Bos I'm 5'11" and the roof was almost touching my head when I got stuck renting one in Bologna, IT. I don't think they are really intended for people over an average height of 5'6"-5'8".
 
bosdevelopment said:
I doubt smart cars will succeed in the states. The interior looks tiny. I'm about 6'5 and I can tell from the video that getting into one of these things would be like squeezing into an airline seat. I'm sure though, that they'll do a hell of a job marketing these to idealists.
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I dont think they will succeed here either, americans like things big, like hummers and the new quadruple decker burger from burger king.
 
Patrick said:
I dont think they will succeed here either, americans like things big, like hummers and the new quadruple decker burger from burger king.
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and iPod minis.
 
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