On July 2, 1998, a vehicle with an entirely new concept first rolled off the assembly line: the smart fortwo. On that date an extraordinary success story commenced in Hambach, France. Until now, the compact two-seater has become the vehicle of choice of more than 900,000 customers in 37 countries. The smart fortwo soon got cult status and is the only automobile which is still in production to be displayed at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Since beginning of 2008 the smart is being successfully sold in the U.S. and starting from mid 2009 it will also be available in China. For 2010 the first smart electric drive of the current vehicle generation is planned.
Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars: “The smart fortwo is a unique car that combines driving pleasure with lifestyle and exemplary fuel efficiency. The two-seater convinces customers worldwide, thanks to its outstanding safety features, the distinctive smart design, as well as top quality, reliability, and economy. The smart fortwo is a clever solution and fun to drive. Had we not invented it ten years ago, we would have to do so now.”
smart sales approaching the one million mark
In the tenth year since its market launch, the smart fortwo can look back on an impressive sales development. The trendy two-seater has not only become successfully established on the market during this time; over 150,000 customers have purchased a second-generation smart fortwo since the model was introduced in March 2007. All in all, far more than 900,000 smart fortwos have been delivered to customers since the two-seater was launched in 1998.
The smart fortwo in particular is the choice of customers with an individual lifestyle in many major cities all over the world.
Whereas the car was initially offered in Germany and eight other European countries, the innovative two-seater is now sold in 37 countries on five continents, including in the U.S., South Africa, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, and Canada.
smart now also available in the U.S. - and soon in China
In mid-January 2008, smart’s U.S. sales partner, the Penske Automotive Group, began delivering the first vehicles to customers in the world’s largest automotive market. In total, 11,400 U.S.-Americans already took delivery of their very own smart cars.
The smart fortwo will also be available to Chinese customers from mid 2009 on, allowing the brand to enter another major automotive market. The vehicle is in effect custom-tailored to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of customers buying small cars in China. “In China, too, we are observing growing customer interest in our high-quality and economical smart fortwo. I am sure that many lifestyle-oriented customers in China’s cities will soon come to love its unique concept,” said Dr. Zetsche when smart’s entry into the Chinese market was announced at Auto China in April 2008.
smart fortwo electric drive to be introduced in 2010
At the end of last year, smart launched a pilot project in London, for which the company and selected fleet customers are jointly testing 100 smart fortwo electric drive to determine how the vehicles perform under conditions encountered in everyday use. “We are currently developing a smart fortwo with electric drive and lithium-ion batteries, and we plan to introduce an electric drive version of the current smart generation in 2010,” said Zetsche.“
The success story - 10 years of the smart fortwo
The vehicle developers at Mercedes-Benz began designing the “Car of the Future” back in the 1970s, when they thought of taking revolutionary approaches to create a super-compact automobile. In 1989, Nicolas G. Hayek, the inventor of the Swatch, won the interest of Mercedes-Benz to create a small car for city driving. The two partners established the Micro Compact Car AG, headquartered in Biel, Switzerland. The smart fortwo (known as the city coupe at the time) celebrated its world premiere at the 1997 IAA Motor Show in Frankfurt. In a move that expressed the company’s commitment to Europe, the French town of Hambach was chosen as the production location for smart. The smart plant (also known as “smartville”) commenced production in 1997. The assembly line, which is shaped like a “plus” symbol, optimally fulfills all logistical and assembly requirements. The efficient design of the plant’s production processes reduces transport and logistics effort to a minimum. But that’s not the only reason the location in Lothringen is known for its environmentally friendly production processes: the facility supports the brand’s environmentally responsible nature by means of its environmentally friendly painting process, an energy management concept featuring numerous energy-saving measures, and the design of the vehicles themselves. Sales of the fortwo commenced in October 1998. In the same year, smart became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG (now Daimler AG).
In subsequent years, smart launched the smart roadster and smart roadster-coupe (2003) as well as the compact four-seat smart forfour (2004). After the decision to cease production of the smart roadster and the smart forfour, at the end of 2005 and in mid-2006 respectively, smart focused its efforts exclusively on the smart fortwo. Europe’s youngest automobile brand has also repeatedly demonstrated its creative strengths. For example, it presented the smart crossblade (2002), which was designed without a roof, doors and windshield, and the smart crosstown show car (2005), which featured a trendsetting hybrid drive.
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