How Smart Is This?

Well, yesterday's car was a spoof, but this one is not. In European cities, a combination of no parking lots, high gasoline prices and, perhaps, a more sensible approach towards consumption have resulted in plenty of Smart cars on the roads. Soon to launch in the US (in 2008), for $12-17000, one wonders how well they will sell in a land where bigger is often seen as better, and where a significant proportion of the population may not even be able to fit into it.

The cars seem to have gotten good press; SF Chronicle:

It certainly [attracted the attention of San Francisco drivers] on Thursday afternoon, when scores of motorists who have made $99 deposits to reserve the right to buy one of the first American Smart cars queued up Disneyland-style in a parking lot beside a Mercedes-Benz dealership to take a spin around the block in a European model of the car.

WBCS-TV; "reactions range from hysteria to guarded amazement.":

"This car brings a smile to people's face," one onlooker said. The "Smart Fortwo" is only about 8 feet long and 5 feet wide, but despite its tiny size it is packed with special features. It gets 40-plus miles to the gallon in the city and more than 70 on the highway, and if you're tired of the color of your smart car, you can change it. That's right. Ten panels pop off and can easily be replaced.

Improbably, a Utah debut:

Garrison and hundreds of eager drivers lined up outside the Mercedes-Benz dealership in Lindon on Thursday to ogle a car so small that four of them can fit horizontally in the average parallel parking spot.

"Zippy" was how Ivan Utrera of Sandy described his test drive. "It was pretty roomy, surprisingly roomy," he said.

The problem with the mileage is, of course, that it's worse than the town mileage of current generation hybrids (Prius and Honda Insight: 45+, adjusting for inflated EPA claims), and the Smart is unlikely to be used for road trips. So several hybrids, in the same price range, are a better deal and have four seats.

But you don't get the cachet of owning one of the coolest cars on the road. It's going to be a cult thing.

Comments

[Dahlia T.]

Not that I'm rushing out to buy a Smart car, but for those of us who live in NY, or other cities with major parking issues, there could be a premium placed on buying a car that can fit in to small spots.