It seems like there are a couple of different versions of the Smart ForTwo. There is already a dealer near where I live that is selling them. However, they cost $26,500! which is just crazy. They won't sell many at that price - when I was in Italy even grad students drove them so they couldn't have been anywhere near that expensive.

Now, the Smart ForTwo that you describe above, I understand will be going for something like $16K, but one of the main differences is that it'll have a Mitsubishi engine instead of the one from Daimler that comes in the European SmartForTwo.

I think they could sell very well at $16K if they got better mileage - 40MPG really isn't all that great for a car this small. The Yaris (which is larger and cheaper) gets 40MPG. I was getting 52MPG with a Chevy Sprint back in the mid-80s.

Again, my understanding is that the European Smart cars get closer to 60MPG, but with all the required pollution controls and safety equipment the US version only gets 40. Given that the mileage isn't all that great I would guess that they'll sell well for the first couple of years due to the novelty effect, but after that we'll (hopefully- I'm keeping my fingers crossed) have cars available in the US that either get better mileage than this or are larger and still manage to get 40MPG.

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Please forward this e-mail, so that in the end it reaches Steve Jobs with Apple

Apple trees


I WOULD BUY A TREE – IF IT WAS POSSIBLE ON ITUNES


I am a Norwegian citizen and therefore an inhabitant on the planet earth. Last night I saw the disturbing documentary "An Inconvenient truth" with Al Gore. The message of the film has already been clear to many of us, but nevertheless it's frightening when presented in such an educational manner.


I see myself as a fairly conscientious consumer but I still fear that we are coming up short. I am married with two children, and nothing would be more painful than knowing that we had a chance to alter our future but did nothing.

Throughout the years I have seen a number of haphazard attempts to act, but none of them has had quite the impact on the public as they should. Maybe the case that they where presented by a bunch of longhaired, pot-smoking hippies had something to do with it, what do I know?

But anyway the reason for me trying to communicate this to the world (or even better, Steve Jobs at Apple), is quite brilliant if you don't mind me saying so. I believe that if Steve Jobs runs across this idea somewhere on the web, he would really grab on to it.
So therefore it is important that this idea is forwarded to as many as possible. Let the internet do what it's supposed to do; Get good information across!

THE CONCEPT – " Apple-trees "


The concept is this: On Apple's outstanding internet store, ITunes you set up the possibility to buy an "Apple-tree". This will be a non-profit project where the income goes to funding the project itself, aside from a small handling charge. (I know that this sounds bad for a commercial enterprise, but I predict that this will really establish Apple as an environmentally conscious company.)


An "Apple-tree" is an audio- and/or a video-file where (hopefully!) Al Gore will thank you for buying an "Apple-tree". He will then explain to you that by buying an "Apple-tree" you are actually buying endangered rainforests in the tropical belt around the world, which by itself is not enough to save the world but is an important contribution. Then he will give you a new tip with every purchase of an "Apple-tree", of what you can do yourself to give the earth the upper hand in the battle against oblivion. There are several enterprises today that are planting or protecting the rainforest, so Apple would mainly be the front-end marketing arm.



I predict that with your Apple's impact on society, and how the conscientious consumers want to participate; this would be a way of getting control over the situation. In the near future people would meet at work, in school, in the neighbourhood and at home to compare the number of trees they have "planted".



This is good brand-building. Apple will make even more money while you are saving the planet.



Now, doesn't that sound cool?

Dag Skaug

dagskaug@gmail.com

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Apple-tree? Steve Jobs?
I thought I was at Engadget.com for a second.

Listen man,if you want to buy a tree for a dollar there are plenty of nursery that will do so. It may only be about 10inches tall, but saving the world takes time.

I thought the Smart car was a great idea. Since I am currently still in college $16,000 for this is still high. I was also anticipating better gas mileage. I thought it was going to cost around $12,000.

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The original smart was to be sold at 7000€, seems like something went wrong. In europe the smart is a popular fleet car and very often it is being used for advertising purposes.

To Dag Skaug: check out tree-nation

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Re price, The Pure is shown on the US website for "under $12,000." No radio, no A/C/.

http://www.smartusa.com/smart-car-fortwo-pure.html

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Thats just assenine, this tiny car getting 40 MPG ? What gives? we had better mileage, larger cars at lease a decade ago. I can get a used golf TDI and get around 42 - 47 MPG and diesel is now 25 cents less then gas in my Chicago area.

And $12k with no AC and radio? In the US? no AC? How much is a basic OEM radio cost? $50? come on, they can't include one?

Give us one at $12k with AC and radio @ 60 MPG and you will sell lots of them. I would by one right away. Why are the car makers going backward in mileage? Is it all do to the increasing gov regulations?

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Regarding "backward" mileage:

A combination of government regulations (safety equipment, crumple zones, you name it)...

...and driver's perceptions of what is acceptable.

A friend had a mid-80's Chevy Sprint (see UncleOxidant's comments above), and I drove it and did some work on it. Yes, she got mid-50s mileage out of its 1 liter, 3 cylinder, fed by a carburetor. But acceleration was glacial. Braking was adequate at best. The whole car was absent any sense of substance or confidence. Highway manuvers reminded you to stay in the right lane. If you could sell it today (no ABS or airbags, for starters), you'd have few buyers, even at $4 a gallon. GM had problems selling them, later resorting to engine upgrades and a turbo to appeal to the pocket-performance market.

Technology has improved every aspect of today's cars over the years. But when an engine improved 10%, consumers wanted 10% more performance, not a 10% smaller engine with similar performance and improved fuel economy.

I believe we're seeing the tide change in this regard: Cars from Europe that wouldn't have sold well here (Fit/Yaris/Avensis) are now on the market. The Smart ForTwo is at the pricey/cute end of the market, but indicates the changes we'll continue to see.

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shmuppy likes. need to know final price and mpg to know how big it would be.

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With demand spawned by this car its cult like status, consumer awareness, and the always present hype generating substantial need for the Smart vehicle only adds too Smart's American launch, performance, success or failure.

However the truth be told, the entire North American Smart car orchestration and importation process is a multifaceted, convoluted and global business enterprise, reaching far into the future.

With cumulative losses at smart now topping $5 billion, it's certainly not, generally speaking about selling a handful of $12,000 cars, or introducing a new automotive brand. All this, is of little consequence to the bigger picture.

It is however, an endeavor of significant importance that may have diverse and long lasting implications for many of us.

For now, selling the Smart is only an insignificant component of a very complex undertaking, which may just be a pivotal crossroad for the future and direction of the U.S. automotive industry and the emerging automotive industries of China to India and beyond.

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