Saturday, June 27, 2009

Smart 4/2

Ever consider that ugly cars sell?
Gremlin, Pacer, Scoin, that Toyota mini van that looked like a hand vac?

Well it seems that the Smart is following that trend, with a bonus, they retain their value.
Copied from the Daimler media site;
The smart fortwo recently received the Canadian Black Book award for “Best Retained Value”. Designed to identify specific models that outperform their competitors, the awards are based on real performance and measure actual value retained after a four year period.
Kathy Ward, President & CEO of Canadian Black Book, presented Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada, with the award at smart Canada’s head office in Toronto. The awards determine a vehicle's ability to retain its value from its original MSRP, and are based on data gathered from four-year old passenger cars and light-trucks under $70,000.
"Receiving the Canadian Black Book residual value award provides further validation of the extraordinary and innovative concept of the smart fortwo," said Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada.
"We are grateful to all of the loyal smart fortwo owners for placing their confidence in our brand, and we are very happy to provide strong residual values as an additional benefit of ownership. The unique smart fortwo continues to be an intelligent choice for mobility because it provides class-leading fuel efficiency and versatility in a safe and fun-to-drive package. These are the trademark characteristics that have allowed us to expand the smart family to more than 15,000 strong in Canada since the vehicle’s introduction five years ago."

So the question is, why is there no aftermarket add-on bits for this car?
OK, so the total numbers are relatively low, however, once these catch in the US market, combined with the cost of fuel raising, these little ugly cars will sell like hot cakes.
Might even be the next street racer type car for the current younger generation. Why Not?
These things are relatively inexpensive to buy, get fantastic mileage on a cup of diesel, and retain their value. Seems like a no brainer?
Maybe I should get one and drive it to Vegas when I attend the SEMA show, would that be a fun trip? You bet. I have wanted to drive to Vegas on nothing but secondary roads for years, maybe even following route 66. Even cooler!!!

1 comment:

  1. Kevin, there is very little aftermarket for the Smart because, being a n-European product, it is strictly regulated and type approval bound that even changing the tyre manufacturer would be a breach of rules here...

    Imagine that here is illegal even to put 7.50s on a Series two....

    Andrea Davide

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