The Smart Car Failed In The US, Now It's Betting On China
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- The tiny Smart car was meant to be a revolutionary new idea in urban mobility. But more than 20 years after its creation, the Smart car pulled out of the U.S. after years of increasingly dismal sales. Now, its parent company, Daimler, is looking in a new direction.
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The Smart Car Failed In The US, Now It's Betting On China
The problem was that the smart car didn't come with a smart price. They were ridiculously priced way too high.
benz
It wouldn't sale if it was free in the United states
It looks bad
@2freeIvX In China, highway moves at like 20mph so no feelings of death there.
Also, Europian cities tend to have narrow streets, because the cities are old. America has enough space for big cars.
We looked at the smart car. But we ended up getting the Honda Fit. It has as many or more features and costs less than the Smart. I like the idea of the smart car but it was too expensive and the features too thin.
One of the best cars ever. ❤️
Amazing decision.
honda legendary reliablity
@@patrickglaser1560 fits don't have the reputation of the Prius, I view them as a watered down/ wannabe prius driver
Patrick Glaser, Nothing wrong with the fit. Great car. 👍
I don't get why people compare Honda Fit or FIt sport to Toyota Prius, two very different fruits. I wouldn't compare Ford Fiesta or focus or the class to Prius, the fuel economy were not comparable so did the price. You are talking about 10 to 20 mpg difference, at least when I had no other choice(seriously none) but to get Fit Sport in 2012 with budget below 20k.
Let's make affordable cars by partnering up with Mercedes.
😂
Great comment
your perception of Mercedes Benz as an expensive/luxury brand is skewed. Yes they make expensive/luxury products, but they also make many many non luxury products. at the end of the day, Mercedes-Benz is one of the largest auto makers/industrial companies in the world who have the know how, experience, and scale to produce things that are economically viable at any price point.
Praz55 wow ur so cool bud
Daimler owns Freightliner. The Mercedes-Benz Econic truck is literally sold in the US as the Freightliner EconicSD.
Why get a super small car priced at about $27k when I can another with lots of space and a more reliable manufacture
Is that what it costs? Ridiculous. They should max out at 10k at most
I bought one for 3k in Paris and honestly is a life saver but wow 27k? Cray
Everything is subjective.
@@jeisselima 3K? >____< how much was the import cost.
Wonder how much their new investment there work out.
You don't want a large car in a European city. That's where Smart shines. 27k is ridiculous, but it's a reliable Mercedes after all - and an electric one at that. I'd still go for something like the electric Skoda CITIGO, because costing just 20k$ it's just slightly larger while managing to fit 4 seats and has DOUBLE the range.
Problem: They are not affordable. Expensive for such little car.
OPSEC AMEN really? For such good gas mileage I found the price to be much better than other vehicles.
@@EbyKat The older models had terrible engines which would fail at 90k km or less. The newer ones are better in that regard. They have plenty of footroom and some space for groceries, but it's not a car for taking your friends or family somewhere.
Drinkyoghurt would you say 2012 is an older model?
Bilal Ahmad yes. That’s a 7 year old model!
Not if you buy one used.
Easy: The smart car is inordinately expensive for what it is. It's also tiny for American standards.
And it isnt even electric. I assumed it was. I cant believe they would sell a gasoline car and call it a smart car lol
Yep, it's no surprise that Daimler Benz owns it. It's like a fashion statement - like: Look, this thing is so clever and progressive, you'll have to pay premium. (Swiss watch maker collab is almost a cynical joke because it's so clichée vapid-value-add.)
Because I really don't see why it SHOULD be expensive. It smells like pure marketing. Or maybe it's compensating for low sale volumes anywhere because it's actually impractically small and making people consider getting a scooter instead. - Cynically, MCC shows just how expensive you can build a plastic-body mini car if you leave it to an 'elitist' brand like Daimler.
Also, they should have totally expected its failure after the financial crisis. If they had smart people, they would understand how innate to the USA's society is the affinity for big, especially in cars.
And now it's on to the well-deserved China disaster in the making. 😏 China, a country that experienced massive growth and where money and prestige are everything and people would only drive a Smart if they didn't have more impressive/attractice options. - Smart in China would have sounded like a slightly better idea 20 years ago. - And traffic congestion will be improved very little by just smaller cars. - Also consider the high danger of Chinese traffic. They might be just as worried in China than in the USA about that aspect. - Also, the Chinese economy is slowing down. They're really late to the party with their plans.
Americans are too fat they need everything biggter to maximize growth.
The Smart also got less gas milage than many of it's larger competitors. And it required premium fuel.
@M Bacon - Speaking of roads, there's a country roads near my place here in Germany with lanes so narrow that I get slightly worried if there's a truck oncoming, and you're allowed to drive 100 km/h there. Oh and it has bends with warning signs for them. And slip roads to farms and other side roads and an S-curve surrounded by trees. - I deliberately stay way below allowed speed limit there. - But hey, I have the freedom to make that decision, so that's cool. And that road rarely ever had accidents.
The smart car is the best thing that happened to me in the USA with the COVID epidemic. It's smaller and easy to clean, easy to find parking, little maintenance. Easy car to use to work, and when I return home easy to clean, and wipe down, unlike a big car. I am in the health care field and having this car made my life a lot easier. So glad my husband had one, got to try it, loved it, so I parked my SUV and got this great little car.
I love my smart, especially when they remodeled it in 2016. It became so pretty. And great performance
The brand has already failed in China as well. No one wants that kind of expensive tiny car
Xuliang Zhang True
Has tesla started making its cars in china.
It's failed in America because it's a knockoff of this
ua-cam.com/video/QZv8wVfobEY/v-deo.html
A lot more options at better price
what with the crazy price for such a small and basic car? they think they are Apple?
i love these Why this 'brand' failed in 'x country' videos
It's funny because almost everyone I see is very irrelevant
It’s always because they didn’t know their market that’s like basic business 101 along with adapt with the time
Same here.
I have one, it sucks.
@Dacia Sandero guys u romanian?? Or you just love dacia Sandero:)
"Europe has always focussed on cleaner mobility."
Volkswagen looks away, pretending it didn't hear what was said. 😂
VW will be all electric in 5 years. That is their ramp up
I know NUTZING!
-Sgt Shultz
(Hogans Heroes)
MicsØ Cheated in the past doesn’t mean, they will cheat in the future.
@@ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Bentley,Range Rover, Chevrolet and Dodge also cheated...
@@crash_cris7602 and General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar, Cummins Engine, Detroit Diesel, Mack Trucks, Navistar...
There is a simple rule... if you give me half of a car, I want half of the price.. Simple and straight forward...
yet not true for LotusElise ,Alfa romeo, Lancia & Austin Healy,MG etc
@@friedrichschulz4883 well thpse brands you listed got 2x if not 10x the power of a smart sooooo.... theres the difference. Those cars are are sport car class or luxury. Smart is a bare bones basic car with a premium price tag.
the smart crs are made and sold
by Meredes benz .only the poor and stupid dont know Mercedes is high end
@@SavageAirguns you are so used to driung crap you have no idea what a high end car is
@@friedrichschulz4883 tell that to the no shift transmissions Mercedes put in the Jeep Liberty. Junk and it cost more to fix then the Jeep is worth after a few year due to the over engineering they did. Just to have them fail and be the reason most cara in the US with them are junked. Also I saw more Low end junk Mercedes in Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria that were worthless bottom of the barrel trucks and cars even poor people wouldn't drive here. Mercedes is only becomes decent when you are willing to spend over 75,000 usd. Otherwise they are junk and make junk.
I went to New York City and saw one of those police smart cars. I swear I couldn't stop laughing and I guess the officer inside it saw me because he kept following me with it which only made laugh even harder.
Nothing Mercedes touches is cheap, this included.
Shadow Kat here in Mexico one of the shittiest forms of public transportation is buses that are mostly made by Mercedes Benz lol 😂
Mercedes, maker of over-engineered, overly complicated machines that self-destruct while you watch.
The SmartCar costs as much as a Fit, Corolla, or Honda Civic. Seems like an easy choice. I can't even imagine driving cross country in a SmartCar vs. having done it in a Civic.
@@WildBikerBill I don't think it's just exclusive smart car, all tiny urban city-cars are becoming more expensive than what they are worth.
For example, a brand new Aixam Sensation would set you back $11,500, and for what?
It only does 28 mph, has less HP than a go kart, and it's bare bone on essentials, hell A/C is an optional extra.
I might aswell buy a Nissan Sentra or treat myself to a Dacia.
not they made for cheap plastic.... just selling at high price...
@@cuppaint pues tambien tienen demasiado uso, poco mantenimiento y siempre van llenos, asi como mano
✔️ Small
-Affordable-
✔️ Efficient
Small yes, affordable and efficient debatable
Not efficient. Barely 35 mpg.
Hardly efficient... It's half a car but doesn't get half the consumption...
Vlican exactly
it don't do well in japan either... it still too big to be k car...
US has too many large trucks on the road. I would never drive that thing here.
I drive one every day in DFW traffic, and regularly am passing SUVs, Trucks, and Semi's with NO problems whatsoever. AND, in the off chance that someone ever DOES hit me, the crash test ratings were better than a lot of regular old cars on the road today.
18-wheelers are large? Come to Australia, our B-doubles (34 or 38 wheels) and triples (12 more) are common, and people have no problem with small cars. Crappy roads are more the issue.
I live in TX. The home of trucks. That thing would get me killed
JAG yeah you're right
Its not about how safe the car is in a crash, its about how other people perceive you on the road. Drive this thing if you constantly wanna be bullied and tailgated by the bigger pickup trucks and SUVs around you.
The funny thing is that the smart car were never affordable...
Ugly
Exactly!!
I looked it up about 7-8 years ago and they were around 20-21k
When I can buy a civic for 17 and have more space and almost as good mileage
Status Symbol.
It's just made for the city center. Rich people live there
I call getting 50 to 60 miles to the gallon affordable. It's possible driving the car in manual mode with a throttle body reset.
Why wouldn’t they make it electric to begin with.
Mason Temiquel no one in the city has a garage to charge it overnight
chocolatewheelchair That’s the reason why they need target market.
Because it wasn’t feasible in the late 90s? They’re all electric now...
because german engineering....
I would buy if i can remoce the battery ti charge it at home. There’s no way i can charge this car if we live in an apartment building.
The Smart Car failed because this ain't Europe. They drive an average of 5K to 7K miles per year in Europe, they have mass transit systems that can take them anywhere. In the United States, the average car will get 20k to 25K miles per year. This is the main reason Renault left the United States in 1986 and this is the reason why Toyota thrives in the American market.
Toyota adapted easily to the market that's why they thrive
Your numbers are way off. 15k miles a year average. And Renault never left, they stay with the name Nissan. So a Nissan is not considered Japanese but European.
Yeah Americans hatred for decent mass transit never made sense to me. America could improve much with some powerful mass transit especially a new faster transcontinental high speed rail. But people would rather die in car accidents I guess.
Why did Renault leave the US ? What about other European brands like PSA ?
@@rudysalas9138 Not at all. 15K miles was the average. Now it's 20k. If you live in a metro area like Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or Miami it's 25k.
Secondly, Renault has not submitted a single Renault, Citron, or Peugeot to the NHTSA for testing since 1985. Nissan and Renault have an (Automotive Alliance) that started in 1999, not a Partnership. Nissan is in the process of ending its Alliance with Renault because their sales are down by 30% due to their alliance.
Seems ideal for some European cities, but I can't see it working well in the US
We have them here in Australia! That makes worse sense than America.
i believe non of these will make it through san fransico hills without overheating or even rolling backwards.
The "smart" car's ONLY advantage is parking space availability...average mileage, cost, with limited seating and storage. What's smart about that?
@Kip Tucker And now it's Swatch Hybrid Is Toast.
The car was overpriced that’s why it failed in the US
Yeah that was indeed the main reason.
Yes but used it a different story.🤑
In rome Italy it is one of the best selling cars. they are everywhere
Narrow streets call for narrow cars.
alessandro sega Well this is not rome
hence, it still sell just not popular in other country....
trash hauler the USA isn't the world either..... And neither is UA-cam just a USA app.
@tk421missing It's not about having to trick countries to give us """free""" stuff, it's about using the smart as a second vehicle to get to work and back, which greatly helps out with the daily parking problem and, with the electric versions, not only are they cheaper to run but you can also get in certain areas/parkings that you'd normally have to pay for if you had an ordinary car.
People in Rome have smart cars, but they usually also have another vehicle they use for anything that isn't going to work and back home.
I think the dealers were price gouging. The local dealer here in St. Louis was charging at least $27K when they first came out.
Not forgetting that there are no rules against Dealers price Gouging since Dealerships Lobbyed the Frick out of it. Making opening a Dealership in the same territory as another IMPOSSIBLE.
So they can gouge all they want without fear of Competition
"Big enough to hold two people and a case of beer" , that's good to me.
2 people OR a carton of beer!
At 12 k - absolutely
ONE HEAD ON COLLISON AND YOU WILL ALSO GET A CASKET 🫖
It didn’t fail, it’s a niche vehicle for high density urban. They’re everywhere in SF
Well, that may be true, but massively declining sales year after year has an effect too.
If the other only cities in the US that it would sell is SF and NYC then it's a failure. I'm pretty sure that if Daimler knew ahead of time that it would only sell in those cities, Daimler would have never imported it.
The brand failed here because they didn't make a return on fixed costs. They spend too much to reproduce so few. They had to sell over a certain number per year and they probably never broke even.
I disagree. I personally know NYC don’t even want the car. Parking a smart car cost the same in money and/or time as parking a Benz. Might as well just get the Benz and stunt in NYC then get a smart and lose money and time storing it like a chump.
No men in San Francisco
What isn't said is that Smart Cars have a Mitsubishi engine. Smart is designed in Switzerland, it belongs to a German company, it is manufactured in France and has a Japanese engine. A truly multinational car.
1st gen W450 has Mercedes engine.
2nd gen W451, has a Mitsubishi engine.
3rd gen W453, made on Renault's assembly line.
All gen has Brabus editions.
I'm in love with my smartie, bought it for $5,700 with almost 12k miles and I love it even more each day.
I bought mine for under 6,000 used 11,000 miles 2013 and I am single in Texas loving it always does not work for everybody but whatever floats my little boat.🤑😊😁I want to downsize everything and live a clutter free life.
Alexander I have a 2008 smart car I love it and I will be keeping it forever it is been the best car I’ve ever had
@@randy3416 Now I want a kandi ev but I am keeping my smart too it so cool and a attention and conversation piece.
I completely agree! I’ve always wanted one since I was 12. And it’s my dream car. Atleast we can say we have one 🥴💁🏼♀️ best car ever!
@@AmiahMitchell I get so many cute comments and haters also I live in texas but when I tell them it's paid for and goes fast they say it's like a beetle .Main thing is we are happy and it takes a strong person to pull it off.🙂😁😉
@@alexander2685 Do girls like it or take it as a joke?
US car dealers would be like:
“we’ll make this car so expensive it makes you feel like you’re so stupid to even think about owning a smart car” turn around start counting their money...
Exactly. The video said it's low-cost. Well it's actually pretty expensive.
They failed because of the price period. This car should be worth under 10000 or 10000 that's it. They can say what they want about Anericans wanting big cars and all bur 20000 for this, come on.
It was, for a while, relatively affordable here in Europe. But it's now too expensive to be called low cost. Very similar, though not as extreme S as Mini
Yep for the size of a smart car you can buy a regular-sized sedan that can carry 5 people, an actual trunk, and don't need to be nervous getting onto the freeway. This thing should be around $8000.
@@lethalfang exactly. I think even the nissan versa was always cheaper and it is a regular size car that can carry 5 people. Price is why they failed.
It sold 1200 units in 2017 and I guarantee all of those sales came from NYPD😂
Serena G they did buy a lot of them didn’t they. What a silly thing to do. I imagine the repair costs are silly and hey just scrap them instead
Dice Channel it’s a great question. I believe it’s because they thought it makes the department seem modern and “cool”. Wait till you see the rainbow flag colored police smart cars paid for by the citizens. Sound fake but is real. I also think they got them to appear “green”. The streets are narrow and whatnot and I’m sure it’s helpful but it’s not like they’re going to get a parking ticket and it’s not like they don’t have tons of suvs. It’s just inane.
Ein police cruserle. 😄
NYPD got a mass discount and even received a number for free ! they aren't proud of them and are just using them al blockades mostly and as rolling advertisements. "look, we're here".
I think LAPD were buying too!
My mom had one, TERRIFYING! Y’all ever remember mariokart? That’s how it feels! Living in Houston you feel like it’s real life Russian roulette, no no.
EXACTLY 🫖
No surprise coming from the land of Big Hair, Big Guns, Big Trucks & Big Egos!
Cool, love me some Mario kart
Does it drift good?
Obviously problem is almost all American is over 200 lbs.
They are too wide to get in
I have to agree
Or the car is garbage
I'm assuming that I all aren't American and are European
False, I actually worked with a rather large man who drove one, he had no problems with it.
Biggest mistake, not putting Mercedes logo on the car
Would interfere with the image built for the Mercedes brand.
Also, in China no problem. People put whatever badge they want on their car anyway. 😄
@@Dowlphin No it wouldn't. Maybe in its current iteration it would but they could have easily made it a 'lifestyle vehicle' for the hopeless incompetent single, trust fund female driver. Most fashion accessories are completely useless and poorly made, yet idiots keep lapping it up.
If it was faster and like 4 seats and a little bigger yeah it would be a good car ! Imagine a Mercedes A class engine inside of it
..no, SMARTEST thing Mercedes did, NOT putting their logo on this car... :)
No class A was still a piece of ass, though the newer one is ok
Let me save you 10 minutes
1. It relied on high cost labor(Maintenance cost was too high)
2. You could buy a big crossover SUV for the same price.
a man of honor. thank you.ü
When the Smart debuted in the US in 2008, the Smart could be bought for as little as $11,500. There were no crossover SUVs anywhere near that price.
Cake Batter right but you are aware that they were bigger vehicles at the time with similar mileage for similar prices. Which is why it failed
I got a 2008 in USA and I still love it today, never had any problems with it. Works like new still and I love it.
I'm 54. I'm a business owner. I have a Smart car and it's by the best car I've ever owned. Bring it back!
I agree! I love my 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Cabrio! I want another one!
Having owned a 2016 Smart for 3 years, I have to say that this car is fantastic to drive in a metropolitan area with nice weather, and that's all it's good for. Any amount of snow, rain, or highway travel instantly makes driving the Smart fell like hell
Just picked on up and drove 250 miles down I35. handled it extremely well. 70mph the whole way. It defiantly does get bullied by the wind tho.
But I also have a brabus, so I have 215 wide rear tires.
Hmm, that’s weird. I was able to drive my Smart Fortwo Passion 2016, 1600+ miles from Massachusetts to Oklahoma without too much trouble. If the wind gets up to 25mph+, then it gets pushed around a bit, but other than that I have driven it in snow, rain, and on the highway at 70mph+ without too much trouble (for 2.5 years). It’s a manual transmission, maybe that makes a difference? 🤔
I love driving mine on the highway, it's funny because it was designed to be a city car but I hate driving it in the city. Highway driving on the other hand is so creamy smooth, unless it winds. But I'm still alive.
Hello sir! Would you like to buy half a car for full price with no savings on MPG and can possibly be carried away by 2 strong men?
😎👍 🤣💖✔️
🤣
so 2 strong men can carry 900kg? Wow, I didn't know that...
@@lunakon5911 easily
@@lunakon5911 yes I've seen them do it. It was hilarious.
I had one of the first minis, when I was young and one of the first smarts in Germany, when I was (quiet) old.
And the smart was one of the best cars, I have ever had.
Good to see, it goes electric and it will probably be the last car, I will buy in my life.
One has to drive a smart, to understand, how much fun it is to drive one.
I owned and drove a Smart for 3 years in Australia and I had a ball! The only drawback was the greed of my local dealership which charged MB prices ($900) for each service. So, with great regret, I sold it.
The number one reason is because everyone believes it is not safe. Smart's mistake is not advertising that it is.
Logan Garcia i feel like if som1 hits me im 100% dead no chances of survival..
Logan Garcia exactly no amount of advertising is gonna make that little egg shaped car stand up in a crash with a HUMMER or a ford excursion
2 seater vs 5 seater. i cant even do groceries with this... the reasons are obvious
terence w wow how much food do you need?
It's RELATIVELY safe, but the size and constuction have limits, especially when people consider they're driving among many very big cars that might not even notice you're there.
Although one safety plus is probably its low mass, so if you crash into another car, you have better chances of having your Smart's momentum redirected and fly off the road. 😄 (On the other hand, that might be less safe for pedestrians. - Who'd have thought we'd have flying cars in 2019? 😆)
For the price I think I’d get a Fiesta if I wanted a smaller car.
TheUnlimited001 the smart car is smaller
@@dylanpower1438 I can park a fiesta everywhere...
4 months ago I bought a Fiesta: similar fuel economy compared with the Smart, but 4 seats and a trailer hook, so I tow my trailer. And the purchase price is the same, as it the car tax. And if you want to go into any Dutch city, I use my bicycle. So I can park in front of the store/ bar/ restaurant/ cinema. So NO SMART NEEDED.
@James Muecke Thanks for the advise, but I already bought a Fiesta 5 months ago. So far, my 5 year Fiesta drives fine. And when the troubles begin, then I sell the Fiesta again.
You can get 3 fiestas for brand new Smart!
I inherited a smart car and was apprehensive about keeping it bc of its size and all the misconceptions I see here in the comments. It's a year later and I love this little car. I would definitely purchase another one or a car similar in size. It's so fun to drive, I spend less money on transportation than before, no one asks me for rides, and I love zooming past folks who think it's a slow car. Ppl are always asking me about my car, telling me how cute it is, or how much they love it. Sad that it didn't last longer in the U.S.
love mine. hope yours is doing well
“Smart” has to be the most pompous name conceivable for such a weak dingleberry of a car. I drive 25000 miles a year and would pick a Corolla for price, efficiency, and reliability and as a bonus I’m not spending 25000 miles a year in something that feels like a claustrophobic hipster coffin on wheels.
🤣😂 If there's one feeling I've never had in my smart it is claustrophobic...
"Hipster coffin on wheels" 😩😂😂😂
👏😅👍exactly!
Also some of us in this country are dummy thicc
A Smart car is quite roomy inside, so the tall and/or dummy thicc still fit, often much better than in full size SUVs since the engine is behind you.
Louis Subearth True but some people despise certain cars just by looking at it
*fat
Fat😂
Most of us are dummy thick.
Ijs
Because those are weak cars (hp) that make the driver look like driving a clown car, require premium gasoline to use and get worse mileage than a real mid sized car?
When the Smart debuted in the US in 2008, the only car that had a better fuel economy was the Prius Hybrid. It got about 4mpg better fuel economy than the Yaris and Fit, which was the same difference between a Fit/Yaris and a Malibu.
Imagine thinking Cars with Not the biggest Motor but only one that Gets you from A to B , are Clown Cars..smh
71 hp and no need for premium fuel. It gets you from a to b and is more than enough to get everything done you need to get done on a daily basis. It's also a very safe and robust car that doesn't cost you an unnecessary high premium and tax. Wouldn't trade it for anything else but an electric version of it.
Please note - I owned a Smart Car, and loved the car - but the maintenance cost was astronomical! If that had been reasonably comparable to other cars, I'd still have it. I look at over-all long-term economy, and not just fuel efficiency. Smart killed themselves by charging unreasonably for maintenance!
Smart car looks like a BIG TOY CAR😂😂😂
The main benefit of owning a car (aside from just getting around) is to be able to carry cargo. I wouldn't buy this car.
You can still use a small trailer with it
@@fgsaramago so I need to pull a small trailer with this to have the same capacity as any other cars' boot? Ah yeah seems like a great buy
@@Wickers67 you have as much cargo capacity as any other small car
not the main benefit of owning a car is had your own a/c and had some steel body protect your from dickhead....
@Picolas Cage you can just buy a Smart four instead. As the name implies it has 4 seats 😉
Instead of making self driving car (that run without driver) .....just make high speed train ....with lots of network in entire United States....
the issue is that isnt cheap. look at calis failed high speed train.
"Public transportation?" Ewww, never... 🤮
Oil lobbies just won’t let it happens
Watch “why speed train fail in America” then you’ll know it can happen but it won’t happen :)
I suggest you spend a week using American public transport and see if you change your mind, lol. It's highly unsanitary, there's open drug use, plenty of verbal abuse and occasional violence. Honestly, a sewer has better ambiance.
I had a 2013 Smart Car from late 2013-2018, financed at $13k. While it was great on gas, the upkeep was simply unreal. My car had to get a brand new computer, new shifting module (it was automatic), A/C fan after just three years (apparently common issue). It would have great trouble going up any hill, accelerating (to be expected), and would simply get stuck on slushy roads. I've spent thousands on repairs on it, and just a mere few months from paying off the loan it was so severely damaged in a wrong way accident, that it was time to let go of the loss and get a Honda instead.
So odd I have a 2013 that I used for Uber eats to deliver food in to customers ran that car everywhere and haven’t had one issue with it at all nothing but oil changes oh and I paid 3000 for mine 2 years ago with 50k miles
Americans don't like Tiny cars unless they're roadsters.
then the Smart Roadster (real name) would have been an option ;)
True
Its easy it was too expensive for the size and mpg. I looked at them several times and could find bigger cars with similar gas mileage for cheaper.
Does anyone ever explain why the mpg is so poor compared to bigger cars with the same mpg? It almost seems like it should get 33% gas mileage...
You didn't understand the car's concept then. You should get it because its tiny, not despite it. If you bought a bigger car (regardless of price), you don't need a Smart.
The only one that makes sense is the diesel, burns a little over half the fuel that the gas model does. But the USA never got the diesel.
The Smart entered the US market in 2008. Back then it started at $11K and got 4mpg more than the next best fuel efficient gasoline car. The problem was every car got more fuel efficient while the Smart stayed the same.
@@TheUrbanEpicure what are the pros to getting a car this small when it's not the fuel economy.
I remember learning about these in middle school and about how these were "the next big thing."
Too expensive for such a small car. I would love to see a Smart Truck for a reasonable price.
Biggest problem with the Smart and similarly sized "city cars" in the US? They're only really useful for squeezing into parallel parking spaces. They still fit in the same garage spaces as larger cars. The tax and registration fees for them are the same as larger cars. You now need to own a second car on top of the city car if you want to drive with children or multiple passengers, which for many people is too frequent to justify short-term rentals. Gas mileage is pretty comparable to compact four-doors. And city cars cost almost the same as most mid-size cars.
It would really require a law and culture change for city cars to catch on in the US. You would need size/displacement-based tax schemes. Maybe a kei-style designation? Special, narrow parking spaces reserved at the front similar to EV/motorcycle parking. Lower crash requirements so they can be light and small. Strategic street narrowing to make dense districts in certain cities impossible to navigate with larger cars. All of these things would make city cars appealing in the US, at least as a secondary vehicle. But those are way too radical, expensive, and invasive. It's easy to allow a narrow road to be built in Japan/Europe, but in the US, everyone WANTS the roads to be wide so they can move a 6000lb SUV designed for towing boats and cruising at 90mph on the freeway through city streets.
This. The report is just too US centric. It's not that there's any problem with Smart, it's just that US isn't the market for it.
Because it's scary as hell to drive the thing. Also it's crazy expensive.
Cory Taylor No it’s not feels like a normal car
Yup, I test drove one and hated it.
My friend has one and I rode with him one time and it felt like I was in a go-cart
Carlover88 Z and it’s not fuel efficient.
Genesis G 90 when u drive next to an 18 wheeler it is pretty terrifying
its scary being in a smart car here in the U.S. Its like being in a go kart and with no safety. Plus $23,900 for a tiny car? I would rather buy a Used 2017 Honda Civic for $12,000 or a New Honda Civic with that money.
Or a Prius.
You're an idiot, Tom, who knows nothing about cars.
TheUrbanEpicure Wym I don’t know nothing? Why tf would I buy a $23,900 Smart little car when a New Honda Civic with $19,750 or a Used one with $12,000. Theres nothing complex to about this bro.
chief tp A new Smart car cost $23,900. A new Honda Civic cost $19,750 and a used one you can get for $12,000
chief tp I know they’re not being sold in the U.S no more. I’m saying why they never sold well because they were expensive and there was better cheaper alternative than a smart car.
People don't like driving a slow car that looks like a nose.
I know they at least goes 70mph
Scott Ledford I meant acceleration numbnutts. A Ford pinto will go 70mph too, does that mean it's not slow?
@@DYLAN102001 WOW.. Name calling doesn't help get your point across. But it does show your intelligence..
Scott Ledford
Someone's intelligence is not defined by either or not they name call. A person's intelligence can be estimated by how many logical fallacies they commit. For example, someone taking a literal translation of "slow" as meaning speed as opposed to the contextual meaning of acceleration and using that to debunk my claim that the smart car is slow (in acceleration). That's called equivocation my friend.
Smart cars do not have much acceleration, their tiny ass wheels hydroplane easily (I've test driven one) and they cost more than some other fuel efficient vehicles that are bigger and don't look like a god damn nose.
Smart Car, not so smart. More like Shart Car.
If you want speed buy a Bugatti.
I rarely travel more than five miles from my house, never go on a freeway. I thought this car would make sense.... then I saw the price. Wow. They are crazy expensive.
I like how you show the timeline on left top corner...
Owned one back in London. Used to drive back and forth to Hemel almost daily. I liked it.
That is what the Smart was designed for: small parking space.
unavailability of the vehicles killed it in the US.
I wanted a smart car badly. But what killed that dream for me wasn’t the price of gas. It was the monthly payments being demanded by the in-house finance group. $250-$450 for this vehicle was outrageous for all the limitation it had. Poor construction in some aspects, horrible 0-60 times, transmission that felt like a toy car. It was held down by those main faults and it was ultimately the destruction of the brand.
It's weird though, where I live, there are a ton of people who own these things. And this is a small town in Tennessee!
America is too suburban for the smart car to be successful.
The smartest car I have ever owned!!
A few years ago I got to drive one of these cars as a loaner while my own car was in the shop. Things were actually okay until I took it on the highway. NEVER AGAIN! It was a monumental struggle to keep it from getting blown off the highway. Every little gust of wind would cause it to swerve left or right. I can see this making sense if you live in a densely populated city, but it's definitely not safe for highway travel.
It isn’t meant to be. It’s a city car at the end of the day, not a car you’d take on a Roadtrip.
@@PeRRXX you’re right about that. this car is only for urban areas, not freeways.
@@PeRRXX lol, I drove it across country 1600 miles (Massachusetts to Oklahoma). 😎
The price of tiny car is the same as a typical sedan . Who is going to buy this ? 23,000 dollars !!!
Where did you get $23K from?
The smart roadster is my all time favourite. I wish they consider making a new one.
please don't try Honda S660...
one with a gas or diesel engine and an actual automatic transmission.
I call it "The Crumple Zone" as its size means it's just a death trap.
in fact it's so sturdy that it got better crash test results than many cars which are way larger
I thought of getting one, then the price didn’t make sense for the size and fuel economy wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. So why pay full price for half a car with no special features and a bigger risk on the road.
I have a 2008 smart fortwo passion cabrio 18K new gets at least 50 to 55 miles per gallon if you know how to shift it properly. It has heated seats power windows lifetime GPS navigation and lots of other features. It's safer rated than a lot of other larger American made cars. You didn't do your research and missed out on a great car.
Why the smart car failed.
*turns wheel at 55 miles per hour, *overcorrects,
goes tumbling like a weed.
Ugh yeah...
@chief tp hahaha ya' got me
@chief tp hmmmmmm, but Chief...here me out, how does in handle in high winds?
David 🤣
@@bethisway like you said, it’s going to tumble like a weed when the winds are strong. not stable at all.
Companies fail in the US
China: *we’ll buy it*
5:44 I can't believe only 1,276 people out of millions of car buyers in the US bought a smart car. Small cars are great for parking in crowded cities. I hope they get popular in China and come back to the US.
I rented a Geo Metro 4 cylinder for two weeks. After 3 days, I was impressed with the thing. Drove it for my sales job in LA-Orange County traffic. Driven hard in all kinds of traffic, it got 50+ mpg using regular gas. Had room for 4 and a trunk big enough for groceries and the usual stuff. Cheap too. Way better than the Smart.
It’s small and doesn’t have much power. It’s just a small trip car for someone who has other cars and money to buy this for no reason
It's a crippled car" tiny tin can, it will leave you a,CRIPPLE IN A CRASH💀💀💀💀💀💀💣💣💣
Selling small cars in US?
guys you're in the wrong market!
😂
because market department need a job..import car nowday don't worth for big company....
#1 reason Smart failed in the US was the price.. For the price of a smart car you literally could buy a SUV or full-sized family sedan... So for an American, they don't view things as being economical or environmentally friendly or practical, rather Americans see that they can get more and get bigger, for the same price.. in other words, more bang for their buck..
That's why tiny cars like these fail overall in America, Americans like to feel like they get more for their money, regardless if under the skin it's worse (cheaply made) or cost more in the long run (i.e. fuel prices or high maintenance). The only way tiny cars like Smart can succeed in America is by being super cheap with a price that matches it's size or through heavy marketing and attempt to convince people that they need/want one.
I have a 2016 Smart car (gas) and I love it. I wouldn't drive anything else!!!!You don't know what your missing. It has a steel body...The new body style is wonderful and turbo. It also has a steal body. I can turn it literally with my finger. It has a lot of room. My husband is 6'1 and he fits fine. My friend is 6'6 and he fits fine. What a shame that they are getting rid of it in the States. People, you don't know what your missing. I like it better then my Mercedes Benz...
Note: I also think what happened in the past with the Smart car, when it first came on the market, it was a little rough ride and it steered people in another direction. Since they changed the in 2016, it is now amazing. What a shame, I guess I'll have to order my next one in China.
This looks like even a doll wouldn't ride it.
I'm in the US and and I'm a proud owner of a Smart Car
I first saw the Smart while vacationing in Germany. Not available in the U.S.
When Penske brought it to the U.S. I wanted one. I went to a local dealership to buy one.
Sorry, no Diesel engine option in the U.S.
Sorry, local dealership doesn’t service them, you must drive over to the big city.
I really wanted it to be “worth” the price, but it wasn’t.
Maybe the Cosworth option. Nope, even more crazy expensive, though the seat was more comfortable (the standard seat was NOT comfortable).
In the end, I put a 4 stroke assist motor on my bicycle. A much better choice for me.
I live in an major European city. A single spot to park can cost up to 250.000€ in my neighbourhood... I just love my Smart car.
Having owned one for some years and know pretty much everything I need to know about one I can only say had the car been reliable from the start then it may of sold so much better but far to much of the design had issues built into the car, the one big thing network garages pray on is the Turbo, comes as one piece with the manifold which is made of monkey metal, use the cars turbo and the metal of the manifold will heat up, once it cools down the metal cracks, your dealer will tell you the turbo is broke but its only the manifold showing cracks in its metal, should it break then you will know about it, the noise is quite something behind you. Best bet is an after market manifold made from stainless steel, my car has done 180,000 with 120,000 of those without replacing a turbo at around £1000, I think its a con so beware
When gas gets high enough, Americans will beg for them.
It’s coming.
@Jeff Young You have never been on a motorcycle?
@Jeff Young If you had a choice? Hit in a Smart, a Harley Fatty or a Scooter??
I own all 3. I'll take my chances in the Smart all day long.
Jeff Young you do realize that bigger doesn’t always equal safer?
And my arrogant, prideful, stupid brother paid full price for his 2019
Hahahhaaaa idiot got screwed so bad. What a POS car.
He probably likes it
The Smart car is in Chicago as Cars2go and you rent by the minute or by the hour. I see a lot of them on the road.
It’s because Us Americans Like Badass Cars MERICA 🦅🇺🇸
Yeah badass car = more powerful engine = more pollution = Cancer
That's why USA is on no 1 in making pollution and in Cancer patient also
@@Shubham_Bahirat the cancer is probably from the tap water.... with chemicals to clean the population's teeth
1234 well they get the Toyota and Honda because their are bigger
GLR finally someone who suspects there’s something in the water
JanCarlo Lau Smart Fortwo and Your Dik are too small for the American Market
We had a smart car an we loved it. Best advertisement for a company. It was nice to drove. Everybody arrived to business meeting with big luxuary car and in the end everybody spokes about your too little but highly fresh car. Every argument with green, innovative and social reasons was easy to deliver.
The price is fair, the maintenancecosts highly low, Brand messaging very good.
It had ~200000km and then a small accident, the repairing cost were way higher then the actual vehicle price. Now it's gone and no need for a new car. I miss it a little bit.
Smarts are very popular here in the UK, where petrol (gas) is expensive and street parking space in short supply.
that would sell in Japan, almost all the vehicle there are noticeable smaller they are so cute!
Please do a video on Geely. They're really interesting now that they've bought Volvo and Lotus
Then gave lotus a crap ton of money which they used to preview and start building the most powerful car on earth:the evija.
Volvo is so underrated, sad that Ford threw them under the bus. 😢
people will hate on the Chinese but nobody else would've saved them like this 🤷🏾♂️
@@JYMAHJAMES You're supposed to let failing businesses fail. China might like the concept, but they won't buy it either when it's so much more expensive than a much nicer and more fuel efficient car from other brands. The government will have to subsidize the price, and then the Chinese people will be stuck with this reject at the government's behest.
Anxiety Attack Volvo is completely on reliable vehicle I have no idea why you morons consistently buy European junk
If that car had come out with an msrp of 6-7k they would have sold a ton of them like when the first mini trucks came out in the 70s for 2500.
The problem is the American mentality:
Where they need a bigger house, car EVERYTHING than their Neighbors.
Can't afford it though.
They're perfect for the city, my dad had a friend with one and we took it for a spin. Poor handling despite the small size, very small cargo space, however when we went to park, piece of cake
I just love my smart. It fits like everywhere and it's really nice to drive! Don't know how one can't like it ...
Finley's Fire It sucks
It's the price, if I'm spending that kind of cash there are much better ways to spend it. I think America at least is hopelessly ignoring the benefits of small cars (the rise of the SUV is part of the death of this country) but I could buy a Honda Fit or something like that for considerably less than a Smart and it would be considerably more useful.
@@WeAreChecking They are Cheap on the used market. They are also going to Rise in price like Crazy because they are no longer being made or sold in the US.
CNBC failed on TV, now it's betting on UA-cam.
One problem is that the Smart ForTwo gets only "okey" gas mileage for its size (33 mpg city/39 mpg highway), so people rightfully think to themselves, "Why not get a slightly bigger car that gets the same or even better mileage, like the Nissan Versa or Honda Civic? (And they're not even hybrids!)". Even the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid gets better mileage.
Plus there's the feeling - right or not - that the car would not be too safe in an accident.
Ok lets be clear on one thing. Everywhere you have snow, you cant use it. It just doesnt have the grip, power, weight. All other sub-compact can be used during winter. +Less expensive and 4 sets.