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Surprising, the name is just so right for this little car. It was originally started by the auto maker Daimler-Chrysler, the people who make the Mercedes Benz and the watchmaker Swatch. So ‘Smart’ is actually an acronym that stood for ‘Swatch Mercedes ART’.
The joint venture was set up in a place called Smartville in France. However, Swatch, inexperienced in the field of auto manufacturing and faced with the prospect of impending losses, pulled out. The company that manufactured ‘smart’, a division of Daimler-Chrysler, was called ‘MCC’ or Micro Compact Car GmbH but its name was changed to Smart GmbH. It is based in Böblingen, Germany.
The Smart Car was an idea so that city drivers would have a car that could very easily be parked, preferably ‘nose-in’ into a tiny space. It was to be a hybrid, taking environmental issues into consideration, it needed to seat only two and it needed to be reasonably priced so the young could afford it too.
The car was launched in the 90's and it has over 750,000 customers in 36 countries today. At a time when gasoline prices seem to be soaring and pollution issues are growing in importance, it’s probably time to go smart and the car with its new logo has an arrow incorporated to show forward thinking as well as a C standing for ‘compact’.
The cars, according to Daimler-Chrysler, will be launched in the U.S. in 2008 and will be sold by Hybrid Technologies as an electric version for about $30,000. Though it has been labeled a hybrid, in reality, it is be a totally electric car.
It’s a car that’s been designed ‘Smart’ and will probably live up to its name. It makes for fun driving, easy maneuverability, comfort, safety and environment-friendly with very low carbon dioxide emissions. The distance it can achieve will be 120 to 150 miles on a single charge, with a speed of up to 80 miles an hour. Using a 110 volts AC outlet, it will charge fully in around 6 hours.
Right now, the cars are available in the ‘gray market’ in the U.S. They are imported, modified to suit U.S. standards as far as safety regulations go and are distributed and sold by dealers who are not part of the Mercedes Benz network. Today, the import of diesel smart cars is not permitted.
It will be called the ‘Smart Fortwo’ and it will be available as a coupe or a cabrio. This model was first introduced into Europe in 2006 and it will be updated for the American market. This little Smart Car looks egg-shaped and as far as mileage is concerned, it could give you 46.3 miles to a gallon in the city and maybe 70.6 miles to a gallon on the highway.
Taking everything into consideration, it really has ‘tomorrow’ written all over it when it comes to transportation in our crowded city streets in the future. That’s why we told you it was well named – it really would be the smart choice to make!