Smart Cars Have A Year-Long US Waiting List?

Stuttgart - For most of its 10-year history, Daimler's (DAI) Smart car division has had a reputation for making small cars that lose big money. In 2005 and 2006, Stuttgart-based Daimler recorded more than $3 billion in restructuring costs for the division that produced the diminutive two-seater. Frustrated execs at one point vowed to sell the division or kill the quirky vehicle if they couldn't fix the chronic money loser.

Turns out the Smart may simply have been ahead of its time. Suddenly, Smart sales are soaring, even in the U.S., where the brand has been available since January. Smart USA has sold more than 14,000 cars in the U.S.--about double what Daimler expected--and there is a yearlong waiting list. Worldwide, Smart sales are up 57% this year, to 81,300 vehicles, and Daimler has added shifts at its factory in Hambach, France. Daimler doesn't disclose results for Smart separately, but analysts expect operating earnings of about $75 million on sales of $1.5 billion. The 5% margin compares to about 8% for Mercedes cars as a whole.

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Gas prices only provide a partial explanation for the Smart's surge. True, the Smart, with a three-cylinder engine and colorful plastic body panels, gets great mileage. At 41 mpg on the highway, the Smart is the most fuel-efficient nonhybrid gasoline car on American roads. A diesel version (not available in the U.S.) gets 71 mpg.

But Smart buyers aren't your average penny-pinchers. Many are affluent, design-conscious folks who have seen Smarts during trips to Europe and own at least one other car. To Daimler's surprise, only 5% of U.S. customers choose the $11,590 base model, instead ordering spiffier versions such as the $16,590 convertible. Though some drivers say the Smart feels like a mouse among elephants on the highway, Ron Moreau, a 74-year-old Williamsburg (Va.) resident, says his two Lexus models have hardly left the driveway since he bought a $16,800 Smart Passion in July. "You don't want to be picking your nose while you're driving the car, because everyone's looking," he says.

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Comments

[xtiangodloki]

I don't understand how can a car this small with this little horsepower (50-61) still manage to use up about 45mpg.

[MalloMel]

I could be the emissions controls.

[situationcritical]

It's the emission controls in the US set by the EPA. Ridiculous. In EU the same non-diesel model gets 80 mpg. In the USA it gets 40.

[KillTheMessenger]

The Prius is a simple counterexample to that notion.

[rue]

In 1992 the Geo Metro had a 3 cylinder engine and obtained 50 to 55 mpg. This does not appear to be progress.

[DallasMikeDavis]

We still have our Metro as one of our cars. A $150 tune up every 2 years and it keeps rolling.

[Moonglum]

Until 2 years ago I owned a Geo Metro which I bought used in 1996 for just under $3000.
It was a Consumer Reports recommendation.
Now I drive a Scion xA, which gets 38 mpg. At times I miss the Geo Metro (but not the cracks from my friends and co-workers)

[way2muchsense]

Well, the xA is cooler looking than the Geo Metro, for one thing. I also reckon if they sold those cars with the J-spec 1.3l engine (the 1.5 they sold here was the "sport" model in Japan), they'd surpass 45 MPG easily, but noooooooooooo. Americans are (supposedly) hung up over power and acceleration, even in subcompacts.

[EinChicago]

Agreed. I had a 1995 Geo Prism for years and got 44 mpg from it's 4 cylinder engine. My wife's firts car was a fiero, which did even better. With a 3 cylinder engoine, two seats, no trunk and plastic body, the smart car is basically just a boxy fiero.

[KillTheMessenger]

The laws of nature have not changed since 1992. So why would you expect "progress"? A small car with a well optimized drive train and properly sized ICE gets the same mileage. Surprise! Not.

My company happens to have a piece of equipment made in the early 1960s in our lab. It works better for what it does than anything people have designed since. One of our engineers is struggling to recreate it with modern parts. And guess what: he is sweating blood and water over the facts that

1) The laws of nature have not changed since the 1960s and

2) Grandpa was a damn good engineer and knew exactly what he was doing.

[PissedOffProf]

My old 1972 Datsun 1200 hatchback got just a nick under 40 mph on the highway. (Remember the first Arab oil embargo?) Drove that little sucker all over the West during summers. Yes, almost 400 miles on a 10 gallon tank, but I would always do the "Shell" economy run ("coasting downhill", manual tranny, no A/C).

[rroy]

Yesterday,while taking an excercise and recreation ride on my 21 speed Chinese Wal Mart Schwinn I spotted two of them,a black one in a parking lot and a snazzy looking one with a yellow body and black fenders going down the road.I stopped to look at the black one and found it fascinating.
From there I went home,got into my(I guess)3500 lb 4wd,extended cab pick up.I drove into town,using about a gallon and a half of gas,and went shopping.N­o one in my truck but me.
Driving there and back,I could not shake the feeling that I was in the middle or on the cusp of a transportation revolution­.Not only a neccessary one but a long overdue one!

[bayside]

Looks like a pregnant roller skate..It is cute

[Tommygun264]

Smarter still - go 100% electric. If you live and work in an urban area where you travel under 40 miles on city streets where the speed limits don't exceed 35 mph, there are a variety of 100% plug-in NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Vehicles) available for $10K to $15K brand new and used for under $10K. I bought a refurbished NEV for $4K and in addition to not paying for gas, my insurance is 1/3 of what I paid on my old car. It's about as economical as driving a scooter, but more practical when you need to carry passengers or groceries. It doesn't fit everyone's lifestyle, but it's a practical alternative for all the people who mostly drive alone for short distances on any given day.

[MajorKong]

It would be nice to get the Diesel version here.

[MalloMel]

You won't see the diesel version here for a very long time. It uses too little fuel.

[Egalitare]

Diamler hangs on to a "bleeder" like the Smart car for years, now scores big time.

Contrast that with the EV1....

[JimboSlice]

14,000 sold in the US is hardly 'scoring big time', and if you think it is I have this fabulous bridge in Brooklyn to offer you.