|
The Pink Panther
movies, with their bungling detective Clouseau played so well by Peter
Sellers, has reached almost cult status. The film has now been
re-released, with Steve Martin in the staring role. When they were
looking for the car that Clouseau would drive, they selected the
diminutive Smart ForTwo, a microcar being produced by MCC, a division of
Daimler Chrysler.
Daimler Chrysler has gone back and forth on bringing the Smart line of
vehicles to the US, with the direction being mostly back. They were
originally going to bring the Smart ForTwo over here, but cancelled
those plans. Most recently they announced they were going to develop an
SUV based on the Smart ForFour platform, called the Smart ForMore, which
was targeted at the US market.
Smart had never been profitable, so their board met on March 31, 2005 to
put together a plan to reach profitability by 2007. Part of this plan
was to halt all development on the Smart ForMore. Instead, intensive
development would be done on a successor to the Smart ForTwo.
At the end of August, Smart also inked a deal with Mitsubishi for the
Japanese automaker to supply its three cylinder engine for the Smart
ForTwo’s replacement.
Production of the Smart Roadster also ceased at the end of November,
2005 due to lower than expected sales. The Smart Roadster was a stylish
open topped sports car that would have slotted nicely into the niche
currently dominated by the Mazda Miata, providing a nice entry vehicle
for Daimler Chrysler, and doing much to improve their fleet mileage.
Smart is now left with only two models, the two-seat Smart ForTwo and
the four-seat Smart ForFour. At the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show, MCC
showed the souped-up Brabas version of the Smart ForFour. This car
develops 210 horsepower and a top speed of 146 mph. It is currently on
sale though Smart Dealerships. They also showed the Crosstown, a
two-seat car that can only be described as “Smart on Safari”, or as one
commentator called it, “a cross between a Smart ForTwo and a Jeep
Wrangler”.
The rugged Crosstown has the same charm as the Smart ForTwo from which
it was developed, but the styling, such as a flat fold down windshield,
gives the impression that it is ready for the Serengeti. This jungle
look is also enhanced by outside hinges that give the car the rugged
appearance you would expect on a safari vehicle. It is driven by a
gas-electric hybrid drive that gives it a top speed of 84 mph and fuel
consumption of about 60 miles per gallon. Safety is addressed by the
same Tridion safety cell used in the current Smarts. The effectiveness
of this high tensile steel cage has been demonstrated by driving the
Smart into a concrete barrier at 70mph; the resulting crash flattened
the front crumple zone but the cage remained intact and both doors could
still be opened.
The Crosstown was also developed to meet US DOT safety standards, which
has fueled speculation that the Crosstown was destined for the US
market. Wes Siler, writing in Intersection Magazine, reported that this
concept would be launched in the US in 2007. I asked Wes about this and
he told me "The short answer is maybe. Several months ago I contacted
Smart’s UK PR office who confirmed that the car would be sold there
starting in 2007 or 2008. I called back shortly after to confirm and
they told me it definitely would not be. Helpful, aren't they?”
Enquiries from Electrifying Times to Daimler Chrysler’s publicity office
in the US have gone unanswered.
Daimler Chrysler has stated its intention to get the Smart division to
the breakeven point by 2007. They could do this a whole lot easier if
they sold Smart in the US. Both the Smart ForFour and the Smart ForTwo
would make excellent entry-level vehicles for either Daimler Chrysler or
Mercedes Benz, something they need very badly as the small fuel
efficient Japanese vehicles bleed away market share.
Demand had been demonstrated by California based ZAP, who modified the
Smart ForTwo to meet US safety standards and placed in on sale at around
$20,000. They claim to have received over 150,000 orders from their
dealer network and tried to place an order for one billion dollars worth
of Smart cars, but Daimler Chrysler refused to accept the order. This
probably has more to do with ZAP not having the capital to pay out one
billion dollars that with Daimler Chrysler trying to stop them from
selling the Smart in the US.
In the end, ZAP was only able to deliver 9 vehicles because of
insufficient capacity at the facility that retrofits the US required
modifications. ZAP wasn’t able to find a manufacturer with the capacity
needed to do the retrofits. This resulted in ZAP loosing DOT
certification for 2005, but they now have 2006 certification and, as of
March, 2006 have resumed shipping vehicles to their network of
approximately 30 dealers.
The dealer I talked to told me that ZAP had shipped 80 vehicles and had
another 100 being modified to meet US standards. The cars, which are
bought retail in Germany and modified to US DOT and EPA standards at G&K
Automotive Conversions in Santa Ana, can currently be sold in all states
except California and five others that apply California’s stricter
emissions standards. ZAP is working on certification in California.
Zap has also released the results of EPA testing on the Americanized
Smart which received a combined fuel economy rating of 40 mpg which puts
it squarely ahead of the pack for gasoline fueled vehicles. Only the
Honda Insight, Honda Civic hybrid, and Toyota Prius give better mileage
numbers. Mileage numbers for the Smart are very similar to those
provided by Turbo diesels like the VW Jetta TDI, which also don’t meet
California’s strict air quality rules Its fuel economy should even beat
out some of the new arrivals like the Camry Hybrid and the Saturn View
Green Line.
ZAP’s position is precarious. If the Smart is profitable then Daimler
Chrysler can bring vehicles over here and undercut ZAP by a considerable
margin. On the other hand, they might be happy to let ZAP assume the
risk here in the US while they take in orders through their European
fleet dealers; the current way that ZAP is acquiring vehicles.
The Smart has also been a vehicle that has attracted EV converters. In
the UK, Zyteck converted a Smart using Zebra batteries and AVT is
offering a conversion with a choice of lead acid or Lithium batteries.
Here in the US, Wavecrest converted a Roadster to demonstrate its hub
motor technology. Emotion Mobility, a company owned by Donald Panoz,
also attempted to use an EV version of the Smart ForTwo as part of a
carshare program based in Atlanta, but never got the cars into
production.
Now that the Smart is being sold in the US by ZAP, it remains to be seen
if Daimler Chrysler will step up to the plate and make this surprisingly
popular car available through its dealer network to US consumers, who
are becoming more and more conscious of fuel efficiency, global warming,
and the need to reduce dependence on oil imports.
|
