Not even the legendary Roger Penske could make the Smart car a success in the U.S.A.
Penske, the astute Detroit billionaire whose Midas touch has won Indy car races, built a truck-rental and auto-dealership empire, and even staged a successful Super Bowl in downtown Detroit, bailed on his agreement to sell the tiny Daimler Benz product on Monday. Since selling 24,622 units in its 2008 debut year, Smart ForTwo sales have slumped. Even as overall U.S. vehicle sales rebounded in 2010, Smart sales plummeted 60 percent to 5,927.
The news caught no one by surprise.
In truth, the only people who ever thought the Smart would be a U.S. bestseller were the Germans, the MSM, and Barack Obama, all of whom have proven spectacularly out-of-touch with American middle-class reality.
Daimler thought Americans would buy the cute little ForTwo which is ubiquitous in congested, $7-a-gallon gas price European cities. “When the German get an idea, they get stubborn with it,” says Ward’s analyst Bill Visnic. Indeed, Chrysler executive Tom Stallkamp famously fell out of favor with Daimler when he told company brass (during Daimler’s ill-fated ownership of the Detroit brand): “Smart isn’t.”
They should have listened.
But Obama and his media allies still have their fingers stuck in their ears. Washington Democrats are green with envy for Europe’s Democratic Socialism, high energy prices, high-speed trains, dense cities, and tiny “global warming-fighting” tin-can cars. On its way to trying to eliminate the internal combustion engine with fuel-efficiency rules mandating 62 MPG by 2025, the administration has set an interim goal of 35 MPG for all cars by 2015.
The $14k Smart ForTwo gets an average 35 MPG right on the nose. It sports a 1-liter, 3-cylinder gas engine with manual gearbox (for higher MPG — just like Europe!). Green Tom Hanks drove one in The Da Vinci Code!
“It could be the start of what could become a new chapter in American motoring: the modern microcar,” thrilled USA Today.
“The two-seat vehicle that offers 40 MPG are expected to be in demand,” cheered the Detroit Free Press.
“It’s all the talk about the environment and wanting to do something,” hyperventilated a Silicon Valley executive.
Mainstream buyers ignored it.
Read more at TheMichiganView.com here.
I expect the same for the Leaf, sales will exceed expectations while they satisfy demand for the early adopters. Then, once they run out of those the sales will fall off a cliff.
Maybe the Volt has a chance with the subsidy, because it is at least somewhat practical. It is just too expensive.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnother example why the governmental rainbows and unicorns have no business what-so-ever in picking consumer winners and losers. This is what America gets for electing someone who never did anything constructive in his life but listen to the likes of Paul Krugman for business and economics pointers.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseLOL, The VoLT costs $40,000 each to build. GM makes nothing on each car, and the US Gubment has to borrow $7,000 for each one sold to give the credit. Of every option you mentioned, the VoLT is the worst choice possible LOL.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEven in uber-Progressive San Francisco (pop. 800,000+), we see only one or two SmartCars per day. Even liberals ... uh, I mean, progressives aren't dumb enough to climb into one.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJust how well do these motorized roller skates run in eight-inch deep snow? Or in 50 mph winds?
Also, we have a car-oriented society. I am sick to death of hearing about $8.00 per gallon gasoline in Europe. In Europe, you drive for five hours and you pass through 20 different countries. In the US, you drive for five hours and you don't even reach the Houston city limits!
We are NOT Europe. It's time that the DC band of idiots realized this simple truth!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf every Smart Car came with a Hayabusa engine instead of the 3 cylinder claptrap that it does come with, maybe it would have been a hit with the import scene. As it happens, it never was going to be hit with anyone other than progressive fools who think that by cutting their energy consumption they're saving the planet.
All of these green cars are going to end up in the trash heap pretty quickly. If the government sticks with its stupid 2020 CAFE standard expect to see much more clunkers on the road than before.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWith sales of 5,927 and falling, I'd say it was spectacularly out of touch with not just the upper and middle classes. The people who might want to pay only $14K have spoken as well: "No thanks, I'll be taking MegaBus." Some cars just aren't worth having at any price.
Agree, with a 62 mpg mandate, get used to seeing a lot of rusty and nicely rebuilt Chevy Suburbans. Heck, they'll even be rebuilding souped-up Priuses. The Smart for Two is the illegal muscle car in Obama's world.
Green Tom. Heh.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh to be a progressive liberal. You can show the world that you are a 'good' person by buying junk to show that you want to save the planet. It doesn't matter that the end result is worse for the planet, but you are a 'good person' <;-)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy would one buy a Smart ForTwo anyway? The only group where they could possibly see any decent sales: the green/efficiency conscious. If you fall into that group, would you buy the 36 mpg roller skate? Or would you buy a 50 mpg Prius (I average 58 mpg in mine) in which you can actually fit five humans and bring home the groceries too?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe smart car has been a money loser since Day One in Europe, too. It started out as a collaboration between Daimler and Swatch. Swatch realized this is an idea whose time has not come and bailed out on the deal. Why buy a smart when you can get a Honda Fit, a Ford Fiesta, or a number of other cars that get better mileages, seat more passengers, have better cargo room, are more comfortable on long trips, and aren't intimidated by semis and busses? Silly of me to ask, wasn't it?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo for a measly 6 mpg, I'd replace my manly 6-speed BMW roadster with that ridiculous geeky little tin can? What are these people smokin'?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFirst they forced me to buy the politically correct lightbulb. Then they forced me to buy medical insurance. Then they forced me to buy a Chevy Volt. Then they forced me to buy The New York Times...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThose silly Germans should have been forced to drive twice around the 610 loop in the Smart car; they would have immediately realized it would not be a big seller in most of the US.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHeh. I got 32mpg in my 270hp SAAB Turbo on the way to work this morning in Washington DC. The SAAB 9-5 is safe, fast, fits 5 adults and luggage, and cruises happily @ 80mph, returning 29mpg in the process. Now THAT's smart.
And the SAAB is a car that has remained fundamentally unchanged since the early Clinton administration!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI expect the target market was circus clown cars. You know the cars that clowns drive around under the big top and cram as many clowns into at they can.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhenever I see a Smart Car it reminds me of a little ditty that used to play on the radio in my hometown (Lansing, MI): "Oh, I know they're tiny and they'll get you far/but you're gonna get killed in a Japanese car." Doubly true for those tiny things. I would maybe be ok driving one in Europe where everyone has a tiny car, but I wouldn't drive one next to all the sedans, SUV, CUVS, trucks, semis, etc. that are abundant in the US. That's just asking to die in a car crash.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSomething like the Smart car would sell very well here if it a) cost only $10K, b) got 80+mpg, and c) was safer, more crashworthy, and less expensive to repair.
Well, such a car exists. It's the T-25, created by the legendary F-1 designer Gordon Murray. I hope they start selling it here in America soon. I would be first in line to buy one.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe reason Americans aren't buying Smart cars isn't because they are small. It is because they simply are not good cars, period. The gearbox shifts like a lawn tractor, and it corners like a shopping cart full of logs. They're made of cheesy plastic, ride like a Conestoga wagon and have "instant death" written all over them. Other cars in this segment -- good cars -- will do well.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSaw a lot of them in Long Beach, Ca in 2009, but in the last 1 1/2 years we see less this of them. Maybe Zuckerberg will drive one and make it cool.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf Roger Penske couldn't make money with the Smart, *no one* could make money with the Smart. Penske's even made money -- since Day One -- on motorsports!
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