Daimler to sell smart in China in 2009

[Karl Roth]

Anything that increases the number of units sold makes it more likely to get more aftermarket interest in the car going. The current production numbers have got to be less than an hour of GM's output VS smart for the year. Our car is a very small niche in the world automotive, would like to see it do well.
karl

[SmartPassion]

+1 on this opinion - specially with the quirky little cars. OTH, if Mercedes markets it as a "Mercedes", it might bump up their marketshare quite a bit. Chinese buy cars for status as much as if not more than practicality.

The smart will still be rather unusual because there do not seem to be too many 2-door cars there.

Originally Posted by 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.

[burtandnancy]

Is that Communist China you're talking about?

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by burtandnancy

Is that Communist China you're talking about?

Is there an other one?

[jwight]

I'm not opposed to buying a Chinese smart, but a half hour later I'm gonna want another one.

[a2jack]

IMO. When the Smart becomes throughly Hollywood-ized. and starts appearing in US movies, TV ads and world press, with Celebrity's driving them, sales will boom all over Asia.

In China, only the Japanese engine will cost Smart sales.

A2Jack

[SmartPassion]

Originally Posted by a2jack

In China, only the Japanese engine will cost Smart sales.

How do you figure that?

[curtis]

SmartPassion, you are correct, they love their Euro status autos and if you do a little searching you will see MB already make a very similar mini car with MB badges, they sell them in Europe and in Japan. Last time I was in Japan I thought I saw a Smart dealer and as I got closer to it I realized they were selling micro MB's, also on the same street I saw a smart roadster drive by.
As I said in earlier post, we in the USA are far behind the rest of the world when i comes to cool cars.
It seems the USA has this infatuation with giant SUV's that make all the soccer moms feel safe... I think it's funny that they feel safe yet driving a Giant Hummer or Escalade the endanger anyone else on the road they may crash into that doesn't have the luxury of a $50,000 SUV. I hope they enjoy the gas prices, but then again if you drop 50 G's on a car you better not ***** about $4 gas!

[MPrice2984]

Within 5 years China will consume more new cars than the US, GM already sells more Chinese Buicks than US market Buicks. China is GM's largest market after the US and already has at least 12 indigenous car makers, some in partnership with foreign makers. Manufacturers love China, 10% of it's population consumes nearly as much as we americans do right now while to other 90% are destitute.

The cars GM sells in places like China and Dubai, Saudi Arabia, etc. are on par with BMW, Mercedes, etc. If you don't believe me google 2008 Chevrolet Caprice and see what the middle eastern world gets, the Buicks for Chinese consumption are nicer than the Lucerne you get here.

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by SmartPassion

How do you figure that?

History... The Chinese people still harbor a deep hate for Japan and anything Japanese. This goes back to before WW2.

A2Jack