Too small, too much, too noisy, too funny-looking, too odd to drive, and no more economical than any of the better-looking, better value diesel SEATs, Citroens, Renaults, Peugeots, FIATs, VWs and Skodas that have been on sale for decades longer.

But given the way the US has embraced cars like the Prius, chiefly because it has no economy-driven rival, a bunch of exaggerated claims, indifferent mpg stats and a dull driving experience shouldn't affect the Smart's success.

And has the silly micro car actually made money yet? It seems to have eaten into DC's profits every year it's been on sale...

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What made you so insanely bitter? :) (I dind't what to say stupid)

Do you have any ideia of how much it costs to implement a new brand? Do you have any ideia how many smarts have been sold? Many hundreds of thousands: quite well in fact! The problem was the roadster and the forfour, not the fortwo.

The same mpg as those B segment cars you mention? What are you on?

Dull driving experience? I understand you might not like it's design, but the smart is universally acclaimed as an incredibly fun to drive car.

So, like you obviously don't know what you are talking about, you should say nothing.
Please!...

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I have admired the Smart Car for many years now, and have anxiously awaited it's arrival to the U.S. since the first time I saw one in London 3 years ago. However with a price just south of $27,000 WTF is the point of buying a tiny, two seat car with almost impressive 40 mpg. This is money that would be better spent on a 40 mpg 4-5 passenger Toyota Yaris, Scion, Honda Fit, or Nissan Versa! Even a Prius, or Civic Hybrid would come in for less than or equal money! There will of course be a few people that will love these cars no matter what the price, but for those of us that actually have more brains than money, this simply doesn't make sense. Once upon a time they sold PT Cruisers for over $30,000 and now they can't give them away.

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Uh oh, fanboy.

Toyota launched Scion in 2003. The company is now limiting the number of cars it sells in order to maintain the brand's cachet: the success of Scion was one of the reasons Toyota overtook DaimlerChrysler in the U.S. to become the third biggest automaker there.

Smart, on the other hand, has been going almost a decade and yet has managed to hemorrhage more than $5 billion since its launch in 1998. At one point, DC was rumoured to be selling it to scooter manufacturer Piaggio.

The biggest problem for Smart is that it the models are overpriced, lacking refinement, and are poor handlers when not going in a straight line. Average economy for the Fortwo Coupe Passion as reported by What Car? magazine in the UK is 58.8 mpg, compared to 61.4 mpg for the Renault Clio dCi and 68.9 mpg for the Citroen C1 HDi.

You can forget try to convince us that you're right and I'm wrong, but DC have been trying to do the same for ten years and have gotten nowhere. However, like I said, the U.S. may be a different story, given that none of its obvious competitors (certainly not the C1 or Clio) are actually available there.

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While I commend that there are alternatives to gas guzzlers like pickup trucks, I never understood why these Smart cars don't get better MPG than they do. Considering their small size and weight, I would expect them to get better MPG. If they got more like 80 mpg, as one would more expect from a diminutive car, their sales would be waaaaaaay higher- even profitable.

Too pricey for what you get. Heck, you could almost buy 2 Scion Xbs for the price of the Smart Cabriolet. The scion gets 2/3 the gas mileage of the Smart, but can go faster and is as roomy for passengers as large suvs. The Xb can carry 5 people with ease and some cargo. The Smart can carry a bag of groceries???
For the price of the Smart carbiolet just go out and get a 3 year old diesel Mercedes.

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Have to agree. Priced in the same range as a fully loaded Toyota Prius, similar fuel economy, but with much less room and only 2 seats! The Prius is more reliable as well.

The sole advantage of the Smart is the ability to park in tiny spots, but that won't be enough for success the US market - parking is not as big a problem here as in some olde European cities, with their mideval narrow street layouts.

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The Smart for two is a unique product but like everything is not perfect.Having owned one for two years I found the economy ran about 53 mpg (Imperial gallon) and consider the way it is equipped the price is right here in the UK.
The projected American price is out of line though,maybe they are trying to make up their losses by appealing to rich Americans.
A comment to #4 above,Size is not the decider of an economical vehicle,just because a Smart is only eight feet long do'es not make it the economy champ.The car is heavy for its size and not very aerodynamic both detrimental to good MPG.
As an example I traded the smart for a Honda Insight Hybrid which is bigger not much heavier(150 lbs)has much less drag and I average a pretty regular 83 mpg (Imperial)and have topped 104 mpg over a measured distance mixing it with other traffic.
This car was designed totally with fuel efficiency and low emissions its goal whereby the smart is a minimal size city car thats capable of further jaunts.Just don,t mix up the two concepts when you seek economy of fuel.
Dgate

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