Not so SMART (DaimlerChrysler product strategy)

[Jamie (K)]

DaimlerBenz is now transferring one of its big mistakes to the US. The company has made a car called the SMART, which has never sold enough to make money. The American and German media are all talking about how the corporation is finally going to "make it profitable" by selling it in the United States, but anyone who has seen one of those cars knows that almost no Americans will buy it. The president of the company, Dieter Zetsche (whose wife barely escaped prison in Michigan and caused a law to be changed), has lived in the US, and he should know that Americans won't buy a car like that, but he's continuing with the plan anyway.

The biggest problem with the car is that in this country its small size makes it a deathmobile. The second thing is that you can't carry anything in it -- not even your children.

One automotive writer observed that the car was designed to be parked anywhere. The problem, he says, is that people don't buy cars to park them; they buy them to carry people and stuff around. He says a VW Polo does a better job for the same money. Here is the article:
http://www.forbes.com/columnists/business/global/2005/0207/056.html

This week on the radio a commentator was talking about the foolishness of trying to sell the SMART in the US. He said, "The Germans think that when Americans complain about the price of gasoline, it means they want smaller cars. It really just means they want cheaper gasoline."

[Yankee]

Hi Jamie

This plan is also incomprehensible to me. Attempting to rescue the "forTwo" smart by launching it in the US seems like the equivalent of corporate suicide.

Marketing for the smart has relied heavily on the ability to park it in tight parking situations. In a city with parallel parking, the smart can theoretically be backed in to fit in between two "regular" cars. But that would probably mainly be a plus in big cities in the US. If a city uses parking meters, however, I can easily imagine a large number of parking tickets being issued to "smart parkers".

A smart might be logical as a second car which would be used exclusively for a daily commute to work. But even then, the two-passenger capacity and and the lack of room to transport much more than a briefcase certainly won't help sales. There are other equally fuel-efficient cars that are much more versatile (and I assume also cheaper).

If you're interested, here's a link to a smart crash test video:


It seems the smart holds up pretty well in a high speed crash. Unfortunately, most people wouldn't survive such a crash anyway --- no matter what car they happened to be in.

I'm curious about the law that was changed. What was it and how was it changed? (I'm already aware that the issue was underage drinking.)

Amy

[Jamie (K)]

[Torsten]

Hi Amy and Jamie, thank for discussing the SMART question here as it is connected to a number of corporate and cross-cultural issues.

I personally have seen the SMART car primarily as a mobile advertising medium rather than a means of transportation. As Amy pointed out, there are some cities in Europe where the SMART might be used for inner-city trips but why would anyone try to sell this tiny car in the US where space is not an issue? Also, there is a tendency in Europe and, I'm sure, in other parts of the world, to buy larger cars, so-called 'multi purpose vehicles' (MPV).

If used properly those cars can save more fuel than smaller ones and of course they are far safer than the SMART. I would venture to say that the vast majority of all SMART's are used by companies for advertising purposes and I can't see how Daimler might be able to change this...
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[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

[Jamie (K)]

Michael, your friend was asked to fetch the Smart from the factory, and it had advertising or advertisements on it. What are you thinking in German when you say advertising advice? Maybe I can figure out what you can say. This expression doesn't make sense in English.

I can tell you that as soon as those Smarts roll out of the ship, they're going to be a big joke in the US. People are still joking about the Yugo (in Europe it was called the Zastava), which was a Yugoslav car built on an old Fiat or Renault design. It was so small that in my state the wind picked one up and threw it off a big suspension bridge. The driver died in Lake Huron, but at least she was saving energy when she drowned.

[Yankee]

Hi Jamie

My crystal ball is telling me that Michael was thinking of the word German word Hinweis. So, Smart cars that advertise by having company information and/or logo on them.

There are lots of Smarts in my area, mostly without any kind of advertising on them. But, then again, I live in "Daimler-land".

Amy

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]