Daimler launching a pilot Smart car rental program in Texas

[spdickey]

Daimler launching a pilot Smart car rental program in Texas - AutoSpies Auto News

In light of declining sales in the US of Smart cars, Daimler AG is launching a pilot program– dubbed car2go — in Austin, Texas, for short-term rental of the micro car.


Under the program, registered users will be able to pick up an available Smart, use it for as long they want to, and return it to designated locations in the city. A pilot with 200 Smart ForTwo cars will be run with Austin city employees.

Last year, Daimler tested the program in Ulm, Germany, with Mercedes-Benz employees and opened the program to city residents in March.

[jwight]

They are on track with the program: smart "car2go" in Texas!?

[spdickey]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=1333805051

[jwight]

That link isn't working... Now it is!

And who was that bozo at the end talking about the car flying apart when the doors are slammed?

[Terry Stibal]

Pretty typical of vanilla press coverage of the smart, I would say.

The "What can you fit in that; your foot?" comment is something that we get all of the time. Once they get into the smart, however, it's quickly dispelled. The trick is to get them to try the vehicle on for size...

[JPaul]

Same story, different link:
Car Sharing Come To Austin Thanks To Daimler | Autopia | Wired.com

[pmolink]

These are going to make nice crash pads for Austin's large population of homeless people. Nice for a short while.

If they get too nasty, the drunk coeds roaming the streets can just tip them into the lake.

[Twojjs]

Check out the "Smart Star State" article.

[eddie.vandermark]

The Round Rock Smart Center has been converting them over with all the new electronics for the program and it is quite a scene to see a sea of white smarts at their service building. I am really curious to see how well this program will turn out.