Smart Fortwo: Born For The USA

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Gigantism was yesterday, now Americans enjoy the little things in life. The Smart Fortwo conquers America’s car hearts at a run, as an on-site appointment proves.

By Marc Leimann

Hardly anyone was prepared for such emotions. Ferrari drivers frantically try to inspect the car from all sides on the highway and take a picture as it drives by. BMW drivers slow us down at the traffic lights and ask about the delivery time. Passers-by of all ages crowd around the car, shouting “Cool Car” as they drive past or just sticking their thumbs up with a big grin on their faces.

In this case we are not on America's roads with a Lamborghini, a Bentley or a Rolls Royce. It is the car that has determined the European cityscape, especially in large cities, for almost ten years. The Smart Fortwo. In its second generation, this “automotive provocation”, as Anders Jensen from the Smart Management Team proudly proclaims, is now also meeting the needs of the US market.

More than 30,000 pre-orders

After 770,000 units of the first generation Fortwo, which was first presented at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1997, the sales figures for the current version make one sit up and take notice. 56,000 second-generation Fortwo vehicles have already been sold in established European markets, 23,882 of which were in Germany by October. Another important market is to be added with North America. Anders Jensen immediately speaks of the “world's most challenging automobile market”, not without respect.

But the little one accepts the challenge and the initial response from potential buyers is optimistic. More than 30,000 pre-orders have already been received with a service fee of 99 US dollars and 80 percent of reservations have converted them into a binding order. The official market launch is planned for January 2008 at 74 dealers who were filtered out of 1,100 dealerships in an application process. It is more than likely that more buyers will be found, as oil prices in the USA in particular have exploded in the past eight years and have tripled.

Americans are interested in consumption

No matter where we turn up, we are immediately bombarded with questions about the car. "What does the car use for 100 miles?" is the first question, appropriately. Closely followed by the second "And how big is the tank in such a small car?"

Many also like to take a seat and are immediately surprised by the spaciousness of the two-seater. “Awesome, amazing” is the echo everywhere. Others are cautiously irritated by the engine noise. When explaining the drive concept, the astonished observation “only three cylinders? And with that you can actually move around?"

Querparker a new phenomenon

Whether city or country, the reactions are identical. We always get friendly looks. A cross-parked car triggers group hysteria from a student café right next to Stanford University, everyone wants to try their seats.

And the university's otherwise strict security team grimaces in amusement and willingly let themselves be photographed with the Smart. John Smith, Sales Manager at Smart in San Francisco, is immediately convinced of the car's concept and its market success. «With this car we are entering a niche in the market. At prices of just under $ 11,700 there is currently no comparable offer."

Imitators will follow

Of course, many manufacturers of small cars such as Fiat will also enter the North American market with the 500 as soon as Smart is successful, says Smith. "But by then we have already gained valuable experience with the car and the customer, nobody can take that away from us any longer."

To quickly add: “And by then we will have created exclusive 10-foot parking spaces for our smart customers in the metropolises with the responsible authorities. Who then wants to drive another car?"