Have Smart Cars bit the dust in America?

Absolutely, it isn’t the vehicle for people who like to speed and go on trips, which consists of many Americans.

Those cars just look dangerous in so many ways. There’s got to be a better way. Any Yugo’s still humming out there?

I don’t know that it’s accurate to say that safety is the reason for poor sales. USA Today mainly cites lower fuel prices as the reason why customers are backing out on orders. And people with child safety concerns are generally going to buy the biggest/safest car they can afford. That’s not Smart’s market to begin with.

Personally, I think it’s a dud because it doesn’t do anything better than cars that are already out there. I got better gas mileage in my ‘92 Geo Metro, which had one less cylinder, and nowadays bigger cars than the Smart are getting comparable gas mileage. They aren’t any better than Hyundai or Kia on price, either. And if you want a hip, small car that is fun to drive, then you are an idiot to pick this over a Mini.

So what’s left? Probably a misguided belief that the car is somehow “smart.” (In fact, the name settled upon, “Smart,” is an acronym that had been used internally for S watch M ercedes Art. One of the original designers came from Swatch and wanted to apply the Swatch concept to auto making.)

So to buy this thing, you’re either misguided in thinking this is somehow environmentally superior, you really need the shortest car available, or you’re weird enough to find the unapologetic Euro styling attractive.

I also don’t think it’s safety related. The Miata is/was a lot less safe, and sold strong for a long long time. Anything consumer related is going to lose to tractor trailer, that’s physics, not safety equipment.

It’s simply not a product that fills a niche better than others. When I first heard about them I thought they’d be great, I also expected them to start about $8k… for the actual price you can get a lot better car, it’s that simple.

I think the idea could fly, it just has to do something better than other available options. That could be lower priced, more fun to drive, better gas mileage, simple maintenance, anything really.

If it did any of those it would probably sell.

Smart Cars are quite popular where I am. Even the local Zipcar service uses them extensively. They are used for local travel only, and those who own them have a separate vehicle for traveling long distances. Demographically, it’s almost entirely people in their twenties and senior citizens driving them. I haven’t seen anybody in the family-raising demographic driving one.

As for tractor-trailer collisions, I wouldn’t call any party to a traffic accident the “winner.” Regardless, I’m not convinced that Smart Cars are less safe in any relevant sense in the case of a crash. I’ve seen plenty of accidents involving semis, and the size of the other vehicle involved never seems to have made a difference—unless it was another semi.

My mom wanted a small car for around-the-town driving, not on highways, and she decided to buy a Smart car. I admit that it was kind of cool the few times I drove it, but it always did seem a little dangerous to me. It’s a car for people who don’t need to go out of town (many people who own cars in the first place probably do need to go out of town) or it’s a car for people who already have another car for more long-distance driving (not everyone can afford that and a second small car that can’t do everything another car can do is not necessarily practical).

Needless to say, my mom ended up selling it and buying a Mini Cooper instead…

I don’t think Smart Cars have bitten the dust, just that you can’t see them over the large cars.

I’d like to see a smart car race, maybe at Indianapolis. With kids behind the wheel, what fun.