Orders Seem to be getting quicker

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by jwight

Agree it does seem to be moving faster lately. My question is why? Don't think Smartville is producing any more cars. Has priority shifted to North America? My guess is no. So, maybe the waiting list is shrinking and folks with reservations ahead of us have canceled, moving everyone else up on the production schedule. Inquiring minds, etc.

I'm not sure iuf it's moving much faster. I signed up 12/31/08 & was given an October-December ETA.

Smartville has increased production & is making more cars. If delivery is speeding up, I suspect it's because there are a lot of orphans around & folks are opting for them rather than wiaitng a year for delivery. At least that's what I did.

[SmartDigger]

It is not faster for me in Ohio

[Heckle]

Reserved - 6/20/08
Configured - 12/30/08
DDE - 2/08 - 4/09

I just think it is the fact that times are tough right now and people are not configuring which is making them seem like thay are coming faster for no reason.

[danag]

I just gave up my reservation last week and the car was due here at the end of this month. It just isn't the right time for me now, but I do think when the right time comes again I won't have the long wait next time. Actually my wait would have only been a total of 7 months from start to finish. I know when ever I talked to my local smart dealer the past couple of months they kept offering me an orphan. I doubt that will change anytime soon if ever.

[nmcl714]

Reserved - 11/11/08
Configured - 02/02/09
DDE - 2/10 - 4/10

I don't thing the wait is any shorter from configured to dde is 12 to 14 months. All total my wait could be up to 16 months.

[forestacademy]

A Year ago Gas Prices were rising with no sign they would stop rising.
People were scrambling to get their hands on a car they could afford to drive since they had to decide between gasing up the SUV or feeding their family.

Well we have now seen that oil prices can fall, fall sharply, and stay down.

Folks stopped buying most cars last year except fuel efficant cars. Now that they can afford to drive what they have again (at least compaired to last summer) they are not buying anything.

Thus, less clammoring for smart cars

On the other hand, I do like the fact that you can order the car you want rather than take whats on the lot. Once the wait time is limited to the time it takes to Make and deliver your car accross the world we should start seeing advertising and the demand should start to rise again.

[jkirsch]

The economy.

We reserved last May, and got the configuration email last month. We haven't moved on it. We have a 1995 Ford which still runs (our only car), and it is awfully nice not having a car payment these days. Yes, this is just following the frightened herd (Conventional Wisdom) off of the cliff, but my company is whispering about layoffs, and who wants a car payment without a job?

I would also hazard this speculation: smart cars tend to be 2nd or 3rd or 4th vehicles for people in this country (USA), not primary transportation. In these belt tightening times, it is easy to put such a vehicle purchase on the back burner.

Now, if Penske had the MHD version available here, well, I wouldn't be able to resist that.

[edirwin]

I really don't see a speed up at my end. Reserved Aug 18, 2008, Alexandria VA smart Dealer. No configuration message, no EDD. Same old canned message BS from smart customer service giving all the inane reasons they can't calculate an EDD. That dealer has 15 orphans but none to my specs.