The Rise And Fall Of The Smart Car | Rise And Fall

The Smart car was expected to be the future of urban mobility. Yet two decades after its launch in 1998, it was removed from North America and was losing owner Daimler an estimated half a billion dollars yearly. We explore how the innovative mainstream microcar fell so badly.

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The Rise And Fall Of The Smart Car | Rise And Fall

[Josh-eroz]

The title should be ‘the rise and fall of the Smart Car in the US’

[bluebear]

Apparently, every car which is not a sedan, is now called SUV, although most of the are neither sporty, nor a utility.

[mikeselectricstuff]

They are hugely popular here in the UK, along with the Fiat 500

[a-dino]

The ForFour definitely wasn't an SUV lmao

[emilymaitlislaptop]

Newsflash!!! The world is not the US. Crazy, I know...

[michaelquirke]

I am on my fifth Smart (3 of them Brabus), fantastic second car. US just do not get them. As the guy below says, hugely popular in UK and Europe.

[mistertee]

After driving a Fourtwo around a big city a few times, I totally get why these cars are awesome. Not the smoothest car but it's always fun and you can literally park this thing anywhere and its big enough for day-to-day basics like groceries and maybe a Costco run. Costs almost nothing to operate too. If you have a big, insecure ego you'll probably hate this car.

[plainlybasic]

For what they were, and are, they are good little vehicles. It's honestly almost like an original mini Cooper, small and reasonably fun to drive

[rogerfroud]

I've had two and I absolutely love them. They're huge fun to own and drive. I have no idea why they thought making a 4 door version was a good idea. That makes absolutely no sense. Why compete with every other car on the market when you're a niche brand?
It's the perfect size for two people, it's roomy and goes great on long journeys. It's a real shame it hasn't taken off in bigger numbers.

[anthonycollins]

I’ve owned the Brabus versions of the ForTwo, Roadster and ForFour. I loved The Smart brand. It was clever, thoughtful design and the range topping models had just enough power to make them fun. The service at Smart Centres was great and the accessories range meant you could customise your car. It started to go wrong when the design standards slipped and the cars became increasingly bland. The cut backs at the dealers meant Smart Centres were hollowed out and I felt I knew more about the cars than the dealers did.

[michaelzeng]

Americans think they are the only country in the world lol. Here in Italy and most western European contries, every major city is filled with them! Plus they are mostly electric as smart only sells the electric version no. The size and convenience of this car far outweigh the dangers as we only can only drive under 30 miles per hour in cities

[fangtakahashi]

Owning a 453, Loving it. Smart company should've focused on countries/areas with parking problems and lowered the price to make it more popular.

[Brainwave]

I have one of these and a Land Rover, they're the perfect pair, where one fails, the other thrives!

[JayParkKanal]

Just because it's not popular in the US, it doesn't mean it's a failure

[MichaelMorrissey]

I drove one (in Atlanta of all places) for 3 years, and it was the most fun car I've ever owned. It's just a complete mismatch for the US market; that, combined with some weird dealership setups really killed it (I was not able to test drive an electric Smart; I was told dealerships couldn't have any test drive vehicles on the lot). I understand the economics, but it's a tragedy they're no longer available in the US.

[nosx]

I'm one of the 'odd' fortunate few here in the US to still be enjoying my 2017 Fortwo convertible as my daily driver. I love that little car, and I'll drive it as long as I can keep it on the road. :)

[amirmoradi]

I did a three year lease on a 2016 Smart EV. I liked enough that I would have been willing to buy it. Problem is the dealership wanted to sell it for $15k to me. I don't know who would pay $15k for a 3 year old used car with only two seats and a range of 50 miles.
Nice car, way overpriced

[eddieg]

I had my 2008 Smart Fortwo for 13 years and LOVED it! I’m in the U.S., I’m 6’4” tall, 228lbs, a big, TALL guy, and I LOVED the Smart (and had plenty of room). As an American, I can honestly say that MANY Americans are very short-sighted, ignorant, and CLUELESS when it comes to the how genius the Smart car is (among many other things!). I plan on buying a 3rd Gen. Smart soon……I LOVED mine!!

[j_laskada]

I own two Smart Fortwo and I've owned a lot of others cars.. believe me. They are really great cars. Small, handy for the city, low fuel consumption and cheap to mantain.

[spidercrawl]

They’re still very popular in France Italy and Germany from what I’ve seen. Have a lot of colleagues who have them. Extremely convenient for city driving and parking.