All Cars, All the Time

Official? smart fortwo Headed to USA?

Well, it's not like this move wasn't telegraphed, but it's almost a absolute done deal now. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that DaimlerChrysler will announce this week that it will launch the fortwo in the U.S. in 2007.

There are several questions. Firstly, what will the pricing be like? It's doubtful that we'll find that one out for awhile. Certainly Zap is currently able to draw a hefty premium on the car, but that will change as the initial demand is satisfied. Years ago I received a survey from a marketing company regarding the smart fortwo in the USA. I seem to recall that the questions about pricing had answers that were in the low teens. Now, the exchange rate has become much less favorable since that survey was created, but I would imagine that if pricing doesn't start in the low teens, the fortwo could be in for some trouble. I would hope that the second generation fortwo would have some cost savings built into the design. My hope would be that the smart would run in the $12k-$16k with the convertible slotting slightly higher.

Secondly, will it be Penske's United Auto Group that gets the nod to distribute the car? We should find that piece out next week.

The USA should be getting the gasoline version of the fortwo. I'm not sure what plans are afoot for the diesel model. There are also rumors of a hybrid and a production version of the crosstown concept.