http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5217861/

The tiny car that won over Europeans with its cute looks and very high mileage is finally coming to America, just not in the way you might expect it to.

The 60-mpg, two-seat coupes are made by a European company called smart, but the DaimlerChrysler division is not the one selling them here anytime soon. True, they will be sold in Canada starting in September, but not so in the United States.

Instead, smart USA is betting Americans won't want the small smarts, at least not yet, and has taken a different strategy: a smart SUV, available here in 2006. The first press release touts not the mileage but that it's "loaded with adrenaline — both off road as well as on."

While that might run counter to smart's origins as a nifty, thrifty machine, it also has left the door open for third-party importers to bring the small smarts into the United States.

And that's exactly what several importers plan to do.

Importers' hurdles
The most ambitious plan was conceived by a German entrepreneur, an auto conversion specialist and an electric-vehicle company.

Thomas Heidemann threw himself, and $5 million, into his import venture after selling his construction business in Germany. His goal: Selling 15,000 smarts a year in large U.S. cities.

Two years later, he's learned that it's not easy getting a foreign car modified for approval by U.S. agencies. But with the help of a G&K Automotive Conversion, a California company, he's finally gotten approval from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and is awaiting emission results from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Heidemann, of course, thinks smart has the wrong strategy. "I never would do an SUV because there are so many of them already," he says. Besides, "the times are changing, you see that with hybrid cars, with smaller cars" like the popular MINI Cooper.

Heidemann's company, smart-automobile, Inc., signed a deal to sell the cars through ZAP, a California company that until now had specialized in all-electric vehicles. ZAP has agreed to pay $10 million for exclusive rights to distribute the car for 10 years and is now lining up dealers.

(Plenty more info at the link)

 

What's the point? Smart has no name equity, and building another SUV means there's no way to stand out. Dumb idea.

 

I have seen 3 smarts here in the last 2 months, they're a nice alternative to bicycle transportation in the winter.

 

They had a couple on my island when I lived there - damn those things are small

 

throwing another suv into an already overcrowded segment, which is starting it's way down
don't understand that move
heck, i bet more americans would rather take the smart coupes or whatever

 

DCX Pulled the concept from NAIAS and probably killed the program, too.

 

Please tell me this post is a joke.

Since when has an extreme value brand needed "name equity" Believe it or not, there is a ton of demand for the Smart brand in N/A, and since there is a ton of demand for SUV's as well, then its a very SMART (no pun) idea

The only dumb thing here is that they won't be importing the Small 2 seater smarts right away Those little suckers are sold in vending machines in Europe. I'd love to get my hands on one of those in America. I'm definately going to be buying one from Canada. I was readdy to put a down payment on two of them at a local Mercedes dealership until they told me they weren't bringing them here.

A little two seater, 70 MPG (I know they're actually rated 60, but it'll get at least 70 with me behind the wheel), strong as titaniam "roll cage" that dips by the gas station once every other month for $10K? Yes, please.

 

There was a Smart here on the streets of Monterey for a few days last fall (for a movie production I think). Those things are short enough to park sideways and still fit into the width of a parking space.

It's a mistake not bringing those little cars here, and I think another mistake in judgement Daimler's arm is making in guessing what will & won't sell here in the US. Those cars will sell very well in congested urban areas.

 

yeah, i think there is a market for it in crowded urban environments where parking is a premium...I'll be keeping my eye on it to see how it does