Daimler to sell smart in China in 2009

[jwight]

If you think it's been a long wait for these cars up until now...

From Reuters.com:

AUTOSHOW-Daimler says to sell Smart car in China from '09
Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:07am EDT

BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) will sell its Smart small car in China from next year, head of sales and marketing Klaus Maier said on Saturday.

"By the middle of next year, the Chinese can buy the Smart which is very well suited for this market," he told reporters at the Beijing Auto Show. (Reporting by Marcel Michelson; Editing by Ben Tan)

[Big Panda]

if this story is accurate, then i see no good for the US coming from this announcement.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by Jeepster55

if this story is accurate, then i see no good for the US coming from this announcement.

Maybe not a big deal as Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd. has been there in Beijing for a while now, and one would assume that they would be built there with cheap Chinese labor (and likely cheap raw materials). But then you have to think about the possibility of M-B distrubuting Chinese-made replacement parts!

A problem could be in perception - that smart is now an entry-level Sino-European vehicle, unless M-B steps up and really puts their stamp on the car (and maybe the tristar).

[wahi]

Yep, I've been saying it all along.. that the next smart"vile" will be built there, just like all the other companies. Then, we will see really "accurate" lookalikes. It's inevitable.

[curtis]

I doubt it will make too big of a splash in China since they already have lots of tiny autos including the coolest little micro-vans.

[Fredvon4]

Curtis

You may be mis reading the tea leaves...

USA pop 300 Million.... 24,000~ 26,000 max imports of smart fortwo...currently over 50,000 orders and climbing despite the insane "insider" joke reservation model (pun intended)

China's population exceeds us by such a large margin that you can predict most sales figures of any commodity by a factor of 5~7 vs USA sales of similar items.....

They have a growing middle class that will exceed the American middle class numerically in short order (less then 2 years I read some where)... in fact, several of China's very large cities already have population numbers of reasonably affluent income levels on par with the USA demographics

I predict smart China sales will exceed USA sales by a large margin, they will get the diesel version, they will get a full electric version, and they may be the market that propels the smart into the history books as ultimately selling more small "peoples" cars then VW ever did

[PassionforPassionCT]

I forsee them parterning with a local automotive company to do kit builds, Smartville would never be able to keep up with demand, and the car would be substantially cheaper with a made in home market car. Many auto companies already do this, and it would make sense.

[curtis]

Fred, I understand China very well, I do alot of business w/ China and travel there about 3-4 times per year. When they get a smart it will be made in China, the taxes on outside built autos is so high they would never pay that price for a smart. I was just saying that the novelty of a quirky little car is nothing new to the Asian market. In the USA it is such a big deal when we got the mini and now the smart but we have been so used to seeing boring cars and SUV's while the rest of the world has been seeing cool little cars for years.

[Smartdavis]

This probably has something to do with the "copycat" version of the Smart made in China. It looks almost identical to the Smart. Maybe this is Smart's way of trying to slow the sales by offering the original in their own market which let's the consumers see the quality difference. It might also give them some leverage with China to put pressure on the manufacturer in some fashion or even put them in position to merge or buy the plant? Smart needs to protect their label and the world is multi-national.

http://www.adgoog.com/blog/photo/137...anghuan_s6.jpg

[Fredvon4]

curtis... seems your perspective is probably much more current and relevant then mine.... it has been a very long time since my last visit to Asia.

I have followed a lot of the recent marketing issues in several Asian countries... so the demographics angle is purely numerical perspective...

I admit, Popularity, Western-ness, Cost, and Practicality are serious considerations. Your take on it is appreciated