Osnabrueck

I'm going to gloat for a second and belch out a big, loud "I told you so."

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The folks at DC/Smart got themsleves in a whole world of trouble when they foolishly assumed that the equity vested in the Smart brand had do to with image, and not with their popular and unique City Coupé/FourTwo.

There was never a call for either the Roadster or the FourFour - a half-dozen other European brands already had those bases covered.

Now they're going back to what they should've been doing al along. Namely, run a lean operation that focuses on their FourTwo. The car has carved out a niche that's all its own and should remain popular for a long time to come.

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BMW_Dude

I heard about this a while ago!

This shows that MB can't increase the size of the smart range past the fortwo! First the roadster goes, now the ForFour!

I never though it would succeed, there is too much competition in that segment!

Giannis

It's not only the fact that there is so much competiotion in that segment. Don't forget that all the smart model are very expensive, at least here in Greece. And there are not many people that wish to spend all that money to buy a smart, with such a weak engine, while they can get a cheaper car, with a more powerful engine. Yet, there are people who wish to spend their money on a well-built (?) city car, and that is the target-group (?) of the brand, but i guess that group is not that big to support the brand.

On the other hand, the Smart ForTwo is a class of it's own, as there is no other car like this. And the weak engine is not a problem, as it is a part of the general philosophy of the car, and that's why the streets are full of ForTwos here...

Osnabrueck

The FourTwo addresses a problem that's found everywhere in urban Europe. In addition to that - they carry the perception of being a premium product. It's not like having a stripped-down compact, it's like having a really nice microcar. Since people see it that way, as something that belongs primarily on the city streets at low speeds, it's been a success and will continue so.

The extendended family of ill-fated Smarts never had any legs, aside from the attention the brand had when it was new on the market. Everybody saw these vehicles, thought "oh how cute", and walked away.

What Smart shoulda and coulda done is move downwards instead of expanding into areas where there's fierce competition. Can you guys imagine things like Smart scooters or Smart mopeds? It probably would've developed into a niche market, but it would've been a natural fit for the kind of stuff they're doing.

Instead of trying to ape the model of a traditional car company (from the bottom up no less), they should have presented themselves as a think-tank for modern urban transport.

Giannis

you got some nice points there onsa!
but i don't think that the smart scooters/mopets idea would work. there is simply so much competiotion in that segment. there can be no winner..

Centurion

I share your opinions Osna. The orignal smart was extremly popular duing the dot com era and it was more or less a very unique and compact car. While the smart for four is just a cramped and over expensive small four door car. The car is more or less pointless.

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