The distribution of smart cars in the U.S. has been explained at length on these forums. There is no “conspiracy” or “unfairness” involved. smart U.S.A. did contribute to the misunderstanding by not revealing one of the distribution criteria until after it was exposed here.
Initially, prospective customers were informed that cars would be delivered on a first come, first serve basis, according to the date of reservation. However, as individual customers posted information here, it soon became apparent that there were very wide discrepancies in periods between reservation, configuration, and delivery, amongst those with the same, or closely spaced, reservation dates.
There was much speculation about the reasons. As information accrued here, it became possible to analyse the distribution of smarts. It turned out that the waiting times were longest in areas of high demand and/or fewer dealerships per unit population. And regardless of this situation, smart U.S.A. had to supply each dealership a minimum number of cars per unit time, in order for the dealerships to be viable. Had they attempted to fulfil orders solely by reservation date, a number of dealerships would not have received sufficient cars to be able to remain in business.
Long Island, New York appears to be the region with the briefest period between reservation and delivery. There are two smart dealerships on the island, and another quite near by in New York City (as well as two more not very far away, in White Plains, N.Y. and Englewood, N.J.). Look at the map of smart dealerships and the cluster in the New York metropolitan region will be clear.
There is an even more dense cluster of smart dealerships in California, which has a relatively long wait time. This brings up the matter of demand. Demand for smart cars has been highest in California, which is not surprising, given various significant cultural factors, the climate, population density, and a large number of people with high incomes (meaning that the smart can be purchased as an extra car or toy).
On the other hand, demand has been considerably lower on Long Island, which although dense in population and with a high cost of living, has a very different culture—chiefly suburban. Thus, low demand, coupled with high supply from the cluster of dealerships, has resulted in a brief period between reservation and delivery. The increase in fuel prices and publicity about smart cars has raised demand here, but the wait remains brief compared to other regions in the country, though it has increased a bit.
smart U.S.A. now acknowledge that cars are delivered to customers according to reservation date and location. Had they admitted this at the beginning, there would have been far less rancour.
What smart must really do at this point is increase production, which is possible at the smartville factory in Hambach, France. It seems unbelievable that a manufacturing firm would not raise production to satisfy demand, especially at a time when competing models (such as Toyota’s “homage” to the smart, the iQ) are about to appear on the U.S. market. I have never seen a convincing explanation for this, apart from the well-known fact that French labour laws would make it difficult to hire a third factory shift on a temporary basis.
To specifically answer the question raised above: smart center Smithtown are not receiving more cars than other dealers in the country. “Immediate delivery” simply refers to orphan cars.
are you saying that smartusa screwed up by putting 3 dealerships within close proximity of each other in the NYC area?
hypothetically speaking of course, what would happen if 'someone' were to make a reservation online from, lets say, INDIANA, and use a NYC zip code and address of a 'friend'? the car would be 'confirmed' and when you're notified of the 30 day window, tell them you have since MOVED to Indiana and need to take delivery THERE.
i wonder...........
P.S. sorry "Winnetou", didn't mean to ruffle YOUR feathers. your post was just used as one example, since it had all the pertinent information such as: Reservation # and date, Configuration date and Delivery date. and i hope you understand OUR frustration, especially for those who are "1300's" and haven't even CONFIGURED yet. those are the ones i'm most upset about.....not myself. i can "wait it out" until July-Sept 2009.
hypothetically speaking of course, what would happen if 'someone' were to make a reservation online from, lets say, INDIANA, and use a NYC zip code and address of a 'friend'? the car would be 'confirmed' and when you're notified of the 30 day window, tell them you have since MOVED to Indiana and need to take delivery THERE.
i wonder...........
hummm, this was posted on the NYC thread....maybe 'someone' has already DONE this?
"Hey guys, Melville here, picking up my passion any day now. (My location says NYC cause I'm there half the year)"
guess they've already started playing the game.......
There actually six dealers in the greater NYC metro area,densely populated, two of which I know are Ray Catena dealers .Smithtown is the eastern side of Long Island ,Sufolk county .It is the furthest away from me at 62 miles.I would not be surprised if most people in the area reserved at work while in NYC instead of that dealer.
That way the can pick up the car and drive it home instead of using mass transit which is a nightmare.
There are two more if I expanded my range to about 80 miles.I think the person who got their car the fastest explained most logically,imho.
From SmartUSA about the shortness in the NY area wait times
Dear smart Enthusiast Vehicle delivery is first come, first serve, but within each dealer's designated market area. Delivery date across the country may vary based upon vehicle production and distribution. Major metropolitan areas, such as New York City, generally experience longer delivery times. If you have any other questions or concerns please contact us via email or by phone at 1.800.smartusa. Thank you for your interest in smart USA. You will be hearing from us soon! Jason Dupree Customer Service 1.800.smartusa www.smartusa.com
I do not think they understood my question
Winnetou, nothing against you but that does not jive with the response from SmartUSA. I do think you are probably right and their canned response is off. I just am glad I am not in the north central US as there are no dealers up there. However a two year wait in the Dallas area seems extreme. I hit 13 months today and still have a little wait yet(latest DDE is 8/31). Mine will come but it does make the wait tougher knowing that some areas are getting the car in less than 6 months
Hi all.
In reference to delivery times I ordered a cab for my wife July 4 and my date on the estimator is dec-feb.I did not get to configure it yet either. Even as an employee I cannot get it any faster. I wish you all the best of luck.
Hope to see you all soon
Peter Grosfeld
'even as an EMPLOYEE I cannot get it any FASTER'? OMG!!! how FAST DO you want it to be? TOMORROW?
you're talking about having to wait 6-8 MONTHS while, for the most part, the REST of the COUNTRY is on a 18-22 MONTH (and in some cases even LONGER) WAIT? HELLO, MCFLY?????
can't you see a HUGE problem here? not sure what YOUR reservation number is for the one you ordered on July 4th, but there are people with reservation numbers in the 1300's(reserved in 2007!!!) that haven't been asked to configure yet. with that in mind, i would only HOPE that YOU haven't been asked to configure, since you just reserved less than 2 months ago.
as for what "Winnetou" said, it really makes no sense once you think about it. 'if' the three dealers in that area don't have the same amount of orders that other dealers in Chicago, LA or Dallas have, then why are they getting more cars than those that are 'reserved'? IF the wait time at smart center "A" is only 6 months and the wait time at smart center "B" is 18 months, then it only makes sense that smart center "B" has THREE TIMES THE ORDERS and needs to get cars FASTER! BUT what smartusa has done apparently was to promise the smart centers that each dealer would receive the SAME AMOUNT OF CARS, regardless of number of reservations.
if this is the case, then why can't dealer "B" be alloted more cars? why is rest of the country being punished because the area that is assigned to dealer "A" not as interested in the smart car?
taking that into consideration, the wait times shouldn't vary more than 30-60 days due to location and NO ONE should have to wait more than 12 months for a smart........NO ONE!
to remedy this situation, smartusa will have to start allocating cars based on DEMAND and NOT "X Number per center" as is the current policy.
either that OR do what was suggested before: FED-X all cars to the customers IN ORDER OF RESERVATION. the more i think of that, the more it actually makes sense.
I have no argument or hard feelings against people who get cars
before me it’s not their fault. I do however have plenty for smart
USA. Smart had their website up taking orders and a road show
all across the US long before it announced it’s dealers.
Dave Schembri even said in one of his interviews Texas was one
of the places with high interest and reservations. In their infinite
wisdom which certainly doesn’t match their name smart decided
to place only one dealer in the FtWorth Dallas metroplex with
a population of over 6 million. The NY,NJ, Long island area
with a population of 18 plus million gets 6 dealers.
The Dallas dealer also serves many people not in the metro
Area of 11 counties some even in other states several hundred
Miles from the metro area. If the ratio of population to dealers
was anything close to NY then we might get our cars in a shorter
time. Smart was anything but smart when they put only one
dealer in the FtWorth Dallas area.
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