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If your goal in life is making people happy, making them smile or laugh, or throwing a friendly wave, then the Smart is the micro car for you. I just spent a weekend driving Daimler of Germany's French-made two-seater.
..I got 47 miles per gallon. That is right, 47, in steady highway driving at 60 to 65 mph for nearly 300 miles. While the car takes premium fuel, this hardly matters when it takes so little to fill it up.
..OK, the Smart is probably not the car for you if you spend a lot of time on the interstates. I drove hundreds of miles on a limited-access parkway (55 mph speed limit) that is restricted to passenger cars, and I went steady 60-65, occasionally running at 70 or a notch higher. I even drove above the speed limit on a wet road (light rain and later light snow). On anything but an interstate packed with 18-wheelers the Smart is viable transportation.
... I figure that its U.S. distributor, the Penske Automotive Group, will be able to sell 25,000 to 30,000 a year in this market. Automotive News recently quoted Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche as saying that more than 30,000 Americans have already put down deposits for the vehicle.
...At those prices, however, it is not hard to envision many ordinary Americans buying a copy and using it as their station car and vehicle for local errands.
...Smart shows Detroit that a small car must be more that four wheels, a trunk and some cheap seats. It must be cute. It must make people feel good, smile and be willing to pay about as much for a small car as a larger one. The old Volkswagen Beetle had that magic. So does the new BMW Mini. And a small car from Detroit must have four seats, not two like the Smart.
Here's a thought: Set up a joint production venture--GM, Ford, Chrysler--and build variations of the same car. That could mean lower labor costs and high three-shift production. At this point, I think that the government would allow such a project.
Once the writers get over the fact that smart will not line their bosses pockets with ad revenue, and really take one out for a spin, they will love it. Psst - let's not let on that we are being hornswaggled by PAG and IB without any news updates, and that rumors are rampant about delivery dates, prices, accessories, type of oil to use, where the battery is, and most importantly, is the red really red?
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