3 months to ??????

[T12121]

Originally Posted by bumblebee

If you reserve in Sept. 07 you are probably looking at Sept. 08 or later. There are probably 20,000+ reservationists before you. Best to wait and not worry about it or cancel your reservation to get something else.

Ya but to get your hopes up thinking june/july then find out its more like nov-jan just a real annoyance thats all. I mean if a company says it will be delievered lets say 2-4 wks and it ends up being 2-4 months you would prob be quite upset I bet. (For example)

[Fredvon4]

This is exactly the serious incompetence I write about concerning Internet Brands and their worthless smartUSA web site .... remember it is the official site and the latest and most up to date info is supposed to be there for all the INSIDERS.

We here at SCOA, since around last Aug, were able to make some educated guesses... by late Oct I think we had it fairly close based on reported reservation numbers and rate of increases and then using simple math to deduce delivery probabilities.

Unfortunately the big unknown was PAGs decision to do "load leveling" to ensure a steady rate of new cars to ALL regional dealerships. This hosed up the system....but makes good sense from their perspective.

The giant failing in the whole game is keeping the INSIDER population fully informed with reasonable and KNOWN information.

Do not fall into the false assumption that "this is a new car program that is going to have problems".... What you are observing is a massive failing of communications management, NOT a failing of logistics management.

T12121 would not be in the position of being frustrated if:

In Sept 07 the leaders at IB aka smartUSA had up front information that:

20,000~26,000 cars were planned to import in 2008.
Currently we have over 30,000 $99 INSIDERS.
We assume a 7~8% attrition rate at configuration time.
We will invite you to configure your custom smart 6 to 8 months before delivery.
We estimate 10~14 months from reservation to delivery.
As new information is known we will place it here on smartusa and a personal e-mail to you.

Any reservations after XXX date may not get a 2008 smart. Too many factors this early in the program to accuratly predict that exact date.

If you are interested in a 2009 smart, please continue, however:

We reserve the right to modify color choices, costs, options and other changes that are beyond our control at this time.

[Karl Roth]

Waiting SUCKS but look at the bright side if you are putting money aside for the purchase the dang thing will almost be paid for by the time you get it.
Most of the folks that have gotten the car love it. The ones that are second thoughts probably where looking for something else to begin with. I was very unhappy with not knowing what was going on while I waited for my car.
The things I worried most about never came to be. They didn't try to charge me 5-7k over sticker the car Ordered was the car I got yadda yadda yadda.
In the end I got what I was looking for. A micro car my wife and I can share (she keeps making noises about her own). The fact that people point and laugh is ok with me what I don't understand are the people that feel threatened by the thing but as I live with it there have been a few openly hostile to the car. For me it was worth waiting for. I love it. It does everything I expected it to do and more. Believe you will find it worth waiting for.
karl

[Smart Man]

Until the DDE was posted on Monday Smart/PAG had good numbers for expected profits, based on reservations, configurations and attrition (for any reason). Their business plan was proven through the end of March until there much anticipated release of the DDE (2 months overdue). Not only did they shoot themselves in the foot by not providing up-front info early on, they reloaded and shot again. I would guess that they are having to re-build their numbers and adjust their business plan based on attrition from their continued failure to properly communicate. I was told several times that every reservationist would receive an email about the DDE and how to access. To date I have not received any other communication. Maybe there's an assumption that SCOA will disseminate information once "leaked". A tribute to this forum is that we have been able to deduce projected deliveries prior to the DDE being posted - with a very, very small amount of information based on the total number of reservations/confirmations and posted deliveries. Disappointing to me is how PAG thinks their plan is working - as WE see it.

[T12121]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

T12121 would not be in the position of being frustrated if:

In Sept 07 the leaders at IB aka smartUSA had up front information that:

20,000~26,000 cars were planned to import in 2008.
Currently we have over 30,000 $99 INSIDERS.
We assume a 7~8% attrition rate at configuration time.
We will invite you to configure your custom smart 6 to 8 months before delivery.
We estimate 10~14 months from reservation to delivery.
As new information is known we will place it here on smartusa and a personal e-mail to you.

Any reservations after XXX date may not get a 2008 smart. Too many factors this early in the program to accuratly predict that exact date.

If you are interested in a 2009 smart, please continue, however:

We reserve the right to modify color choices, costs, options and other changes that are beyond our control at this time.

Thanks for putting that so clearly I agree 100%!!

[stuberman]

Sounds like too much faith was placed in the IT automation capabilities between IB, smartUSA and smart. I have no inside information on this but can imagine DDE as a complex IT project (which by definition will vary from some errors to full blown failure). It could be a failure of data feeds from smart (perhaps data extracts from their SAP ERP system); to technical issues at IB; to poor project management at either IB or smartUSA; to poor contract scoping by smartUSA; to lack of project oversight or ownership by smartUSA; or just some simple mistakes that led to end user frustration. I imagine everyone on this sight has LOTS of examples of software problems whether it is a Microsoft Windows problem to YouTube outage to eBay glitch. I am not saying that errors are acceptable but do not underestimate the difficulty involved in creating something like the DDE. I have familiarity with large software systems and I know that smartUSA simply does not (nor should not have) a significant IT staff. You pick your partners and try to ensure that they will deliver at a price point that fits your business model. Even the 'big boys' have big failures so size is not the only factor. NASA can produce some very good software but they have a budget that ensures this. I am sure most of us do not want to pay thousands of dollars more per car to have slicker Internet interfaces. They will figure this out and will figure out how to do it economically.

[Fredvon4]

stuberman

I test massive ERP enterprise logistics management systems for the Army...

Many of them using SAP.... (BTW I see no evidence SAP is the program of record used here ....you are guessing)-(BTW #2...I have no earthly idea either)....

The max records IB has to manage is the world of CONFIGURED, and ALLl Reservations. Max customers to track is between 45,000 and 52,000 -..... Max cars to track is a much smaller number because the CONFIGURED world is much smaller and "in production" world is smaller yet... assumed to be about 1500~2000 per month

To date there are 50,000+ paid $99 customers...this represents a Capitol infusion of just shy of $5,000,000.00 dollars! That is 5 million...tax free, interest free capitol

Perhaps you should review the contract from PAG to Internet Brands posted on this site last October

Perhaps you should research Penske Automotive Group's web site and pay particular attention to their logistics management group

Perhaps you should research the Penske Truck rental venture and the exceptional network of on the road assistance supporting the truck rental business....

You presume David Shembri (president of SmartUSA) is running on a shoe string budget...

No! I do not have a clue either....but I have strong suspicion, backed by research, that this level of incompetence is either the greatest failing in modern history or it is deliberately obtuse to ensure a higher rate of attrition.....

[stuberman]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

stuberman

I test massive ERP enterprise logistics management systems for the Army...

Many of them using SAP.... (BTW I see no evidence SAP is the program of record used here ....you are guessing)-(BTW #2...I have no earthly idea either)....

The max records IB has to manage is the world of CONFIGURED, and ALLl Reservations. Max customers to track is between 45,000 and 52,000 -..... Max cars to track is a much smaller number because the CONFIGURED world is much smaller and "in production" world is smaller yet... assumed to be about 1500~2000 per month

To date there are 50,000+ paid $99 customers...this represents a Capitol infusion of just shy of $5,000,000.00 dollars! That is 5 million...tax free, interest free capitol

Perhaps you should review the contract from PAG to Internet Brands posted on this site last October

Perhaps you should research Penske Automotive Group's web site and pay particular attention to their logistics management group

Perhaps you should research the Penske Truck rental venture and the exceptional network of on the road assistance supporting the truck rental business....

You presume David Shembri (president of SmartUSA) is running on a shoe string budget...

No! I do not have a clue either....but I have strong suspicion, backed by research, that this level of incompetence is either the greatest failing in modern history or it is deliberately obtuse to ensure a higher rate of attrition.....

Fred,

You presume too much and are becoming annoying both in your tone and accusations. Let's try to be reasonable and we can have a nice conversation.

I was told at smartville in February that they use SAP, not my guess.

IB needs to correlate those customer records to the ERP system in France (and perhaps go through some other broker as well - I do not know the details and would need to guess).

Not sure what your point about $5M is... not much money in the big scheme of things. Waste Management just spent $100M in the last two years trying to install a standard version of SAP and failed. Now they are suing SAP. They got not much to show for that money except losses.

I did review the IB contract (not the one posted at SCOA) your point is?

PAG as you know is not smartUSA and doesn't mean they get free support, systems or help. I know a fair amount about LEAN systems and it is pretty much every unit for itself.

I do not know Schembri's budget but I have been to his corporate offices and they are small with a very lean staff. Most US smart dealers are not owned by smartUSA they are franchises. Schembri has 8 smartUSA owned smart centers.

So I think I do have a clue and your constant bashing reflects your lack of understanding. Yes, you have the right to be frustrated and there are plenty of legitimate complaints. From your many posts it is easy to see you are a knowledgable fellow with a lot to offer. Smart represents Daimler 2.0 a new way to design and build cars. Smart USA represents dealers 2.0 a new low cost way to deliver cars with a lot of the old attributes removed. It needs to be adjusted but we also need to adjust to it. Low markup means better prices but less fat. I recently responded to another post where Mini's were being compared. I realized that when I put together a Mini with similar (of course the cars are different) features it came out to $25K. My smart came out to $15K. I had the best car purchasing experience at smartUSA and plenty others have reported the same. I waited 5 years for this car and can say that I am glad that I got a 451 instead of the 450 that was available before this year. Anyone one who has read this board knows that there is a long wait and they will get their car that they ordered in due time. We know it is a function of both when the car was ordered and in which territory it was ordered in (I don't doubt a few people might have fell through the digital cracks and had some other problem.)

I know you haven't said that smartUSA is manipulating the system to screw people but some people are getting that impression. I do not think that is justified and it is a shame if people are getting discouraged because they perceive that smart (the whole chain) does not know what they are doing and can't be trusted.

[Smart Man]

My gut tells me that Dave Schembri and Roger Penske sold there business plan to Smart and were given very specific numbers to work with. I would think that Roger helped to infuse the market with some of his wealth (knowledge and money) and Dave with his business acumen. While I agree that they are doing extremely well by not having any advertising overhead and running a "custom" business, the organization falls very short when it comes to communicating to current reservationists. A little bit of info goes a long way....and they don't need to sacrifice their business strategy in doing so. For example: it would have been very informative for Dave to have posted that regional map of the US so all dealer locations - would have calmed the beast (so to speak). Why they are holding on to this kind of info is beyond me.

[JPaul]

Originally Posted by Smart Man

For example: it would have been very informative for Dave to have posted that regional map of the US so all dealer locations - would have calmed the beast (so to speak). Why they are holding on to this kind of info is beyond me.

The map was shown matter-of-factly, not withheld (see video posted elsewhere).