NEW YORK — Smart car importer Penske Automotive Group has found that the little city car is big outside the expected target markets of Los Angeles and New York, with dealers in middle America desperate for more of the cars, according to CEO Roger Penske.

The Smart Fortwo is also selling more heavily laden with options than was expected, he added. The average Fortwo is equipped with $1,600 in options, or about 15 percent of the car's base price, and the fully loaded version accounts for 10 percent of the cars sold, rather than the 4 percent the company predicted, he said.

"This is not a customer who is buying a car because it is cheap," Penske said. "People are interested in its urban friendliness and its fuel economy," he said. "It is the total of what we offer."

This might lead one to expect the car to be popular in L.A. and New York, and it is. "Los Angeles alone would be our number-one state in sales," Penske said.

But its appeal hasn't been limited to Hollywood stars and SoHo hipsters. "In Pittsburgh and places like that, the dealers are dying for the cars," he said.

All of the interest was generated by Smart's 50-city Road Show last year, which showed off the car in places like sporting events and retail outlets, said Penske.

The tour was so effective that the company's first two years' allotment is spoken for, reports Smart USA President David Schembri. Because of that, Smart will not engage in conventional advertising through the usual outlets, but will continue to engage in non-traditional brand-building activities, he said.

What this means to you: It's gonna be hard to get a Smart, even if you live someplace where you thought demand would be slower. — Dan Carney, Contributor


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M

Zach want Smart FourTwo... bad... real bad...

Wonder when my dad's will come in.

Penske's Smart start: He'd like 15,000 more

Demand for the Smart microcar is strong enough that its North American distributor figures he could sell 15,000 more than he's likely to get from Europe this year.

But the Smart factory is running full tilt and can't produce any more cars because suppliers can't deliver more parts, said Roger Penske, CEO of Penske Automotive Group, which imports the cars. Smart is a brand of Mercedes-Benz and is sold only by an outside distributor in this country.

Penske said last week at the New York auto show that the United States is likely to get only 25,000 Smarts this year--all to be delivered to customers who ordered them on Smart's Web site. Penske figures he easily could sell 40,000 Smarts in 2008.

He said he hopes to hear from Mercedes soon about a production increase for the United States.

The ramp-up of Smart sales in the United States, which began in January, has been slow but largely free of problems, said David Schembri, president of Smart USA. Schembri said Smart expects to deliver 3,000 cars by the end of the first quarter through the 67 dealers that are operating. By the end of the year, 74 dealerships will be open.

With Smart's order backlog, customers wanting a car may have to wait until next year in the hottest markets, such as California, said Schembri. But dealers are experiencing cancellation levels as high as 25 percent in some markets where customers have declined delivery of an ordered vehicle. Buyers only have to put down a refundable $99 deposit when ordering a car.

Schembri would not give the specific number of cancellations but said it's low. Dealers can resell those cars to other customers, but dealers have agreed not to mark up the cars and risk losing their franchise if they do so, said Schembri.

Penske said the company does not plan to expand beyond 74 dealerships. At that level, the average dealer investment of about $700,000 per store is protected, he said.

Most Smart stores in the United States are owned by Mercedes-Benz dealers.

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M

IMO Smart has to take advantage of this. There should be a focus group in place now to address complaints and issues so the product can be improved for 2009. I'd like to see a more powerful engine and smoother transmission for starters. A manual would be nice or a real automatic. Brabus should be allowed to become an official partner for people who really want to spice up their Smart. Then of course in a few years a new model has to come into the picture. This initial boom won't last that long on such a tiny car.

M

For model year 2009 there are some innovations. Starting from June 2008 smart fortwo cdi with a adequate/closed Diesel particle filter one equips. The achievement is raised at the same time on 49 HP. Starting from that 2. Quarter 08 is available the new navigation system (further see message of 09.03.08). For model year 2009 starting from August/September 08 it will give to two new colors. University-red (that metal-IC-RED and that university-yellow are void). Again a grey color is introduced. Apart from 71 HP mhd variant now also 84 HP will be available variant with mhd. For the entrance versions 49 HP of Diesels and 61 HP of Benziner about a BlueEfficieny variant one thinks. In the future could be available even the Brabus version with mhd. Starting from 2009 then of Los Angeles becomes the current fortwo (C451) as electric road vehicle and lithium ions battery in 2 in. Field test to London assigned. Afterwards (end of 09/at the beginning of of 2010) will be available fortwo ex factory with electric drive (electric drive).

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Didn't know whether to start a new thread or not. It's good to see Mercedes not standing still with Smart, I bet they can feel the pressure with that new Toyota breathing down their neck. Great that they FINALLY updated the engines, my friend will be pissed. The BlueEfficiency engine will be nuts considering the Smart Cdi is already the cleanest internal combustion car in the world.

I don't quite understand the above jumble. But in European spec Smarts, do you all have different engine choices and different tranny choices?

I don't live in Europe, but I'm pretty sure there is another petrol version of the Smart available no tranny options though.

In Europe it is available with 3 petrol engine variants and a diesel.

1,0 l 3-cylinder petrol engine: 45 kW
1,0 l 3-cylinder petrol engine: 52 kW
1,0 l 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine: 62 kW
0,8 l 3-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine: 33 kW

The automated 5-gear tranny seems to be the only choice like bum-man said.

How about the engine in BMW Hydrogen 7? It's hard to beat ZERO emissions.

Good luck finding a hydrogen station...