Found this video on YouTube. It's a recent presentation by Bud Denker, Penske Corporation SVP. He says there are currently 40,000 reservation holders and 25,000 smarts will be delivered this year:
Interesting. The point most striking to me was 20% of the 40,000 reservations are in CA. That's 8,000 reservations.
8,000 is 32% of the 25,000 this video says will be delivered.
Conclusion: 3,000 or 38% of CA reservation holders will have to cancel in order for everyone to get a car in 2008. We're hearing rumors of a 35% cancellation rate.
This video was added late February. Approximately at the same time, at the referral of the Front Office of Smartville, I had several conversations with M. O. Amélineau, Direction de la Communication, Daimler France, the smart Media top Representative. He had told me that the Hambach daily production was 600 cars, 200 of them specifically for the US market. Production was then at two shift of 8 hours a day, five days a week. No brainer to come up with a total weekly production of 1.000 US451 a week.
If that level of production is still going on, I don't know. I will contact M. Amélineau again this week. He was out of the office during the recent fortnight, presumably to attent the 10 days long Palexpo Geneva Auto Show that ended yesterday. I'll give him a couple of days to recuperate and I'll post more shortly thereafter.
He had even specified that the current level of production is, for the time being, being kept at that level; and that a dialogue with the various Unions is still ongoing as per the number of weeks that plant shall close down for vacation time in 2008. Last year, it was shut down for 5 weeks. Management was hoping to close it for only 2 weeks, since there is a standing agreement that a longer vacation time of one year is to be "balanced" with shorter vacation the following year.
Again, I shall post more as warranted.
Last edited by JPaul; 03-23-2008 at 03:49 PM.
Reason: number of shifts/day
He had told me that the Hambach daily production was 600 cars, 200 of them specifically for the US market. Production was then at one shift of 8 hours a day, five days a week. No brainer to come up with a total weekly production of 1.000 US451 a week.
Actually the plant (smartville) is running two shifts a day producing between 500-600 cars per day. If demand warrants they could eventually go to three shifts but that would mean a comittment by smart and its partners/vendors who produce 'just in time' to work those same hours.
So I calculate they can produce around 50,000 smarts for the U.S. unless they go three shifts then they could double that to 100,000 cars annually. (That would represent 0.3% of the annual U.S. car market or 1% of the annual import market.)
I stand correct on the TWO shifts a day, my mistake. Thank you stuberman! A third shift was ruled out because of the big long term commitment involved. M. Amélineau will be back from his Easter weekend next week (I talked to him shortly Thursday).
As said "film at 11"...
With those production figures what's the reason for limiting 08 sales to around 25K? You'd think smart usa and the dealers would want to move as many cars as they can. Any ideas?
hmm.. maybe a new smart factory is being built in China as we speak and new prices (higher Euro) with lower production costs (China) will come into play then?
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