Smart News

While the press keeps hammering how most of Middle America is in the dumps, losing jobs, can't find jobs, grossly obese because they can't find a job, etc., apparently there were just a few still gainfully employed and able to secure their favorite cars and crossovers from ze Germans automakers ...    Read more

Almost a decade and a half ago the Smart ForTwo ruled the microcompact segment when it was first introduced back in 1998. Its reign was short-lived however as it was overthrown in 2001 by BMW's newly reintroduced MINI brand. Fast-forward almost 15 years later and the microcompact segment has gotten ...    Read more

Conventional wisdom held that 2011 would be the year of the compact car. Instead, it was a year of disaster, frustration, and not atypically—hope. But everyone already knows 2011's great story: tsunami, earthquake, floods, and burying the past. It's that last part, plus summer's annual focus on the next production ...    Read more

If you were planning on Smarting around a little this summer, you may have to wait a little longer. The electric Smart ForTwo launch is being held back on account of a delay in battery cell production according to Automotive News Europe. If you're looking to get into the electric ...    Read more

Zurich based Rinspeed isn't interested in making cars for the one percent—. actually based on its previous concepts you'd think it was more interested in making cars for 0.0000001-percent. But we'd like to salute these innovators. Hailing from a country best known for Alpine skiing, neutrality, and famous watches, you'd ...    Read more

Details are hazy, but this is what we know, or rather what we think we know: Smart is planning to show us a flatbed pickup truck concept at the Detroit auto show next month. The automaker of pint-sized cars says of its Smart ForUs concept, "this is the right car ...    Read more

Zee German automakers and Chinese-owned Volvo all posted year-to-date double-digit sales for the month of November. Volkswagen took the lead with an increase of more than 25-percent compared to November 2010, with most of the sales drawn from the all-new 2012 VW Beetle and 2012 VW Passat sedan. The "newest" ...    Read more

The Design Challenge is a unique aspect of the Los Angeles Auto show, showcasing the latest trends in automotive design, technology, and even fashion. Now in its eighth year, this year's challenge is for automakers to design “Hollywood’s Hottest New Movie Car.” Daimler submitted three entries, one from each of its ...    Read more

All European automakers except Porsche posted strong sales numbers in October compared to last year’s figures. For the first time in a while, the Mercedes-Benz brand outpaced BMW on the month with 22,637 vehicles sold, not including the Sprinter commercial van. The three-point-star brand led with a strong performance lead ...    Read more

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler has released scheduling details on its Smart brand. The Smart ForTwo electric vehicle will hit the streets in 2012. While the subcompact will get a freshened interior, the most important change is when smart drops the nickel-based batteries and switches to a new lithium ion version. A couple ...    Read more

You’d be mistaken in believing they don’t sell Smart cars here anymore. They do, just not many—just under 6,000 cars for the entire year of 2010. To rectify that, the fastidious Germans at parent company Mercedes-Benz have launched a new ad campaign, extolling the Smart’s greatest and smallest asset: its ...    Read more

We admit we pay scant attention to cars where the low-end model pricing "starts" at a quarter million. Buyers for such vehicles rarely, if ever, visit our humble place within the autosphere, never mind swipe their black American Express cards to fill our coffers. But to automakers, this rarified ...    Read more

If you can’t hear it, there’s an angry snarl and a bunch of incomprehensible German swearing coming from BMW’s U.S. headquarters in South Carolina. It’s not that the BMW group, which also owns Mini, didn’t sell a bunch of cars; it did. It’s just that 23,924 vehicles sold in the ...    Read more

There are two basic ways to improve fuel economy. The first is to develop a fuel-efficient engine. The second is design a lighter vehicle. The Smart Forvision concept takes the latter route. Jointly developed by Mercedes' parent company Daimler and German chemical company BASF, the Forvision showcases a host of technologies ...    Read more

Hybrids aren't the only option for consumers looking for fuel-efficient 2011 new cars. Whether you want a gas or diesel engine, the 10 cars below prove hybrids don't have a lock on stretching a gallon of fuel as far as possible. All but one of the 10 new cars below ...    Read more

Scion planned to introduce its new iQ micro-subcompact in the U.S. early this year, but the earthquake and tsunami in Japan thwarted the original launch date. With recovery and supply processes making progress, Scion announced this morning that the wait is almost over: the 2012 iQ will arrive in West ...    Read more

The AAA Automobile Club of Southern California has announced its top 10 car picks for environmentally friendly driving in its Green Car Guide, a roundup of miserly, low-emissions vehicles. Conducted by AAA’s Automobile Research Center, the 89-page study recognized the factors behind emissions and fuel economy in addition to the ...    Read more

For cars, small is big again. But unlike the cars of yesteryear, choosing a subcompact no longer means settling with cramped penalty boxes that have less space than they do personality. It no longer means facing the scary reality that merging onto the highway has to be done with the ...    Read more

Summer has officially arrived, which of course means warm weather. It also marks the beginning of the convertible driving season, as drop-top owners around the country can finally let the warm summer breeze run through their hair. Sure, there are plenty of ridiculously expensive convertibles that few can afford, but ...    Read more

Details on smart's forspeed EV are beginning to emerge across the autosphere. First, the styling is quite, well, distinct. Bearing some resemblance to the wild Crossblade concept and special-edition model from earlier this decade, the Forspeed does without a roof or windscreen. Shy of donning full-face helmets, occupants receive protection ...    Read more

Daimler has sold its first smart EV in the U.S. The lucky recipient of the first car is Mindy Kimball, a Major in the United States Army, and the first Fortwo Electric Drive was recently delivered by none other than racing legend turned car retail giant, Roger Penske and smart ...    Read more

The history of the automobile is littered with ideas and vehicles that seemed like a good idea at the time, but ultimately failed because of poor execution, especially in the demanding U.S. market. Some of these vehicles even experience a brief period of success driven by the novelty factor, then ...    Read more

Looks like Daimler may be moving into the two-wheel market. Rumors are circulating that the German company may be developing a scooter side for its diminutive smart vehicle. The scooter is billed as a complement to the fortwo, a foray into emerging markets, and a response to BMW's project to ...    Read more

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler recently released details on the 2011 smart fortwo subcompact vehicle.Externally, the revised fortwo looks virtually identical to that of the outgoing car, which originally debuted in late 2007. The lower front fascia has been slightly refreshed to accommodate the optional LED daytime running lamps, but little else ...    Read more

The Smart minicar will be offered to consumers in the United States through a new lease incentive program. The program includes a 36-month lease for $169 a month, $999 down, a $595 acquisition fee and the first month payment due at the start of the lease. Analysts believe the ...    Read more