The Smart Fortwo is dead in the United States and Canada after 2019. The decision to exit the North American market comes amid higher costs to federalize the car to US safety regulations coupled with falling sales. The end of Smart closes the book on a 10 year odyssey many people questioned from the outset, but succeeded in leaving a permanent mark on American car culture.
The Smart was always going to be a tough sell in America. After all, it was primarily designed to function in the narrow city streets of Europe. However, by the time Smart’s parent company, Daimler-Benz, was considering bringing the brand to the United States, it was already established in several different countries, including Canada starting in 2004. Interest in the brand was high, and when Smart entered the US market in 2008, 25,000 Fortwos drove off dealer lots by the end of its first year. Sales quickly dropped after that. Even with the Great Recession on the horizon, fuel was still pretty cheap and not many people were willing to downsize to something like the Smart. At 106 inches long, the Fortwo was four feet shorter than a Mini Cooper. In the land of supersized pickup trucks, a lot of people didn’t feel safe driving something as small as a Smart, even though crash tests yielded positive results.
Reviews didn’t do the Smart any favors. Obviously power was going to be on the low end, but most consumers were probably hoping for a little more than the Smart’s 70 horsepower and 68 lb-ft of torque. More problematic though was the single clutch automatic transmission, which has been universally described as jerky and slow. A redesigned model added a turbocharger to the 1-liter engine, boosting it to 89 horsepower and 100 lb-ft of torque. Two new transmission were offered as well: a five speed manual and a dual clutch automatic.
But perhaps most damaging to Smart’s US efforts was fresh competition from other brands. Subcompact models from Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Ford were able to match the Smart’s $15,000 MSRP and offered usable space for four people plus their belongings. Fast forward to 2019, and the Smart comes across as even more of a compromise that requires too much of a sacrifice and not enough of a benefit.
Desperately needed additional models to supplement the Fortwo never materialized. Smart initially planned to enter the US market with a small SUV called the Formore, but that project was cancelled at the eleventh hour due to unfavorable exchange rates and spending cutbacks within the organization. An electric version of the Fortwo debuted in 2012 and was carried over with the 2015 redesign. By 2018, it was the only version of the Fortwo on sale in the US, with a paltry range of 70-80 miles and a ludicrous pricetag of $24,550. That’s some serious money for a small car with an even smaller driving range. It’s no surprise then that sales have dwindled to 1,276 units for 2018.
So, was Smart’s foray into the US market a failure? Lack of diversity certainly relegated the brand to a niche status, but larger vehicles would have diluted the Smart philosophy of getting people to rethink personal transportation. Smart proved that not everyone needs a giant land whale for their daily commute, and other brands have brought well packaged, feature laden small cars to the market with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, small cars seem to be a losing proposition in America, at least for now. Ford has already killed the Fiesta, Honda may not replace the Fit, and how Fiat is staying in business is a mystery to me. We’ll have to wait and see if anyone can turn the innovative mobility concept pioneered by Smart into a winning formula.
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