Penske Says He Could Sell 15,000 More Smarts in 2008
Roger Penske is sure that he can sell even more than the 25,000 Smart ForTwo’s he’s been promised for 2008, to an American public that’s becoming increasingly receptive to the diminutive two-seater. The CEO of Penske Automotive Group (which imports the Smart from Europe) believes that he could move as many as 15,000 more units if Mercedes-Benz were able to deliver them.
While the Smart factory is already said to be turning out the minicars as fast as it can, Penske is still hopeful that he may hear back from Mercedes regarding increased production for the U.S.
Meanwhile, the Smart sales machine in this country is steadily making progress, with 67 dealers of the 74 planned open and operating in the first quarter. The strong dealership presence, along with Smart’s policy of asking a mere $99 as a deposit on the ForTwo, has led to backlog of orders for the new car.
Comments
Ducati Minor
My relatives near LA want one. I'm tempted to take them to the West Covina dealer.
Maybe my eagerness has less to do with the car and more to do with the girls selling them.
VMMVMMM
Must be, because the cars sure are terrible.
Paul In Jersey
There's nothing sweeter than making promises that are beyond your control of fulfilling.
Sharky
Here in SF the Smart is already VERY popular. I predict by this summer that every other SF car will be a Smart or a Prius.
CARSON44
$17,000 + I don't understand.
hwyhobo
I still don't care.
jhinton
The Smart starts @ $11,600. The convertible is $17,000. I've driven the 2nd generation Smart and it is a nice and very roomy car. I'm 5'10" and 200lb btw. It is almost the least expensive car in the US and gets the best mileage of any non-hybrid. Makes cents to me.
Mena
jhinton, you must not get out much. The Smart does not outdo the diesels in fuel mileage. Also, do you know what you get for $11,600? No A/C, no power steering, and no radio. So add another $1400 for those. BTW, those items come standard on the Honda Fit and Kia Rio. The Fit starts at $14k and the Rio starts at $11.5k.
nick goddard
but what other car under $20k will tons and tons of millionaires wind up driving and looking good in?
jhinton
Mena, There are no diesel cars for sale in the US. Mercedes Benz is leasing a $50K E-Class and selling $40K to $60K diesel SUV's. That is the extent of diesel vehicles for sale in the US. VW is scheduled to release a TDI Jetta sedan and Sportwagon in the 3rd quarter of 2008 but they will start at $22K and BMW may bring a $30K diesel 3-series. I know about diesel cars, I have a VW TDI Wagon and have had the pleasure of sampling many European diesels. The fact remains that they are not for sale in the US.
Here are the EPA ratings for the cars you mentioned:
Smart 33/36/41 (City/Combined/Highway)
Yaris 29/32/36
Fit 28/31/34
Rio 27/29/32
Yes, the Smart requires premium fuel.
The Smart wins on a $/mile basis even with more expensive fuel.
I also notice you don't list what the Smart has standard that the other two don't. the Smart comes standard with stability control and 6 Airbags (curtain & torso side airbags + forward airbag) among other things. (The Kia Rio does not come standard with A/C or ABS on the base model and stability control is not even an option.)
The Smart would be ~$13K equipped to my spec. The Yaris, Fit, and Rio are ~$15K equipped to the same spec. So the Smart is still cheaper to buy.
I commute 130 miles per day, by myself. I have no reason for more than 2 seats. In fact I commuted for 5 years on a motorcycle. I have a Prius or the VW for a family car and trips to the Home Depot. Every vehicle I own doesn't need to be able to do everything.
hwyhobo
So your "economical" solution is to own 3 different cars before you can perform basic functions competently? Please tell me how the sum of those three is cheaper / more economical than one Prius or Yaris that can serve all those duties better than Smart any day any time?
And the premium fuel requirement for a vehicle that performs so lousily on a per cubic foot of storage basis is a joke.
Outside of New York or SF where parking space is of paramount consideration, Smart is DOA.
Ducati Minor
jhinton,
I'm with you about the Smart. The ForTwo in the US is a better car than people give it credit for, but I do contend some things you stated. While major auto market sites do not list many, there are diesel-powered motorcars and trucks for sale in the US. Mercedes-Benz presently has three of its models in diesel (CDI) form and VW has its Jetta in TDI trim; and Mercedes is set to include the Bluetec engine technology that reduces the amount of pollutants and will be legal in all fifty states.
The Smart is, somewhat, economical. The starting price is $11,600, but a modestly equipped car with A/C, stereo, and power-steering will run you $14,000. (I know this because my relatives want one.) Basically, the ForTwo's price is low, but not very low. The mileage is high, but not very high. For a micro-car, the general consumer expects a price tag starting below $10K and mileage around 50 mpg. The Smart will be a smash for the short-term, but it will need improvements and good press to keep it afloat in the long.
The Smart has me thinking about the Nash Metropolitan of the 1950s. The Metro was a micro-car for its time, measuring just 12 1/2 ft. in length and weighing 1,790 lbs. It was a joint effort between BMC and Nash/Hudson. Much like the Smart, the Metro seated only two and had a low (but not extremely so) price of $1,500. The little Metro had a pretty strong start. Production was small for the first year, but jumped to more than eleven thousand units in 1954. Sales teetered back & forth, hitting a peak in in 1959 with 20,435 sold in the US alone. Sadly, the little AMC (Nash and Hudson merged) fizzled out three years later with a hair over four hundred units sold.
John H
Hello!
Can you tell us where we can get the fantastic music we heard on the mercedes-benz commercial until this past weekend? Can you bring
it back or tell me where I can get a copy of it. I was told it was Wagner's Einheldenleiben at some juncture but it sounds like victory!
We always wait patiently for the "Mercedes commercials" because it is always something completely novel and exceptional just like the Mercedes automobile. My oldest brother who is 6' 10" used to religiously buy Mercedes-benz until the models came out in the late 90's did not allow for "tall people" when he lived in the Los Angeles area. We are good Americans but we all focus on good 'German Values' from the classic age of Germany before the turn of the century.
Aufvederzen!
Regards
John Alva Houston
jhinton
Hwyhobo: My economical solution is to buy used cars that get high fuel economy and keep them for a long time. My wife and I have two cars. The VW has 163K miles, the Prius has 41K. I’ll replace the VW when it reaches 250K to 300K miles. Driving about 50K miles per year I will be in the market for another car about 2010. Since we have 2 cars, we don’t need both of them to be able to carry 5 people and carry 500lbs of topsoil home from Home Depot. For 5 years we had one car (the VW) and one motorcycle and did just fine. If I was looking to buy a car today, I would consider the Smart.
Ducati Minor: I mentioned the Mercedes Benz diesels (CDI models). VW does not have a TDI Jetta for sale today. They are PROJECTING that it will be on sale and in dealer lots the 3rd quarter of this year. The only VW for sale today is the Touareg 2 TDI. BMW has ANOUNCED that they PLAN to offer a diesel in the 3-series, 5-series, X3, and X5 in late 2008.
Diesels for sale today:
Mercedes-Benz E-Class CDI $52,200
Mercedes-Benz GL-Class CDI $53,400
Mercedes-Benz M-Class CDI $45,000
Mercedes-Benz R-Class CDI $45,200
Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited $38,350
VW Touareg 2 TDI $68,340
Various medium duty truck/vans
As you can see none of these are what you would call economical vehicles.
Power-steering on a Smart, you must be kidding! I’ve owned a Porsche with wide performance tires without power-steering.
I agree with you that in the US the Smart is a hard sell to a lot of people. Most people will look at the Smart reject it because it is a two seater even though they commute to work alone and have another car or two in the family. People will say “I can get a larger car for only a little bit more money
MossySF
As an aside, I have never turned the A/C on even once in the past 2 years but then again, I don't live in 100 degree heat. So for me, I would be tempted to skip the A/C if I got a Smart.
If Mercedes would bring over the Smart Diesel -- that's rated as 69mpg over in the UK. (Might be lower for U.S. emissions stuff.)
Winding Road » Archive » Smart Fortwo Earns Top Marks in U.S
[...] vehicles. Roger Penske of the Penske Automotive Group recently said that he could sell as many as 15,000 more units than the 25,000 Fortwos he has been allocated for this [...]
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