The Return of the ForFour...possibly

[DaveInTexas]

Originally Posted by jediknight36

This may be vain of me, but I really dont like the front on it. It is an entire different car with that huge front on it. Why not put a 4 cyl in the rear, make the rear a tad bit bigger than the fortwo, and leave the front alone? Just my .02

Do you mean like this:

[jediknight36]

Yes. That is what the forfour should look like. Nice photoshop.

[DaveInTexas]

If you can read German, there is an article posted on the other forfour link:

Originally Posted by Schaefca

@ bmx43:

As I wrote, it is a simulation, but the news was published in the biggest german car magazin Auto, Motor und Sport. They only publish real news, believe it or not.

[jediknight36]

from what I can gather, it seems that people didnt like the old design so this is what it might actually look like.

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by DaveInTexas

If you can read German, there is an article posted on the other forfour link:

"Differently than the Forfour, which structured on a Mitsubishi platform WITH front engine, the new four seater is to become Quasiein of extended Fortwo. Thus also the Viertuerer carries the engine and the drive in the tail and may as response to the VOLKSWAGEN UP be considered.
The dealers require already for a long time again second series and also the field test with a electrical Smart in London close the responsible person courage with such a version a response to the continuous CO2-Diskussion"

[rgaus]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/s...micro-car.html

Okay... help me understand this. Smart comes out with a model called the forfour a few years ago. After extensive marketing and the resulting poor sales, they decide to pull it off the market due to it's detrimental effect on the profitability of the overall smart brand. Since 5.2 billion dollars have been lost with smart since 1998, it would appear that this was a wise move... to focus on what you do best and maximize the profits in that way. Brilliance. Now... a year or two after the forfour's demise, there are talks of re-introducing it? Here's my question:

If it fails again, who gets the award for being stupid enough to risk the brand again?

If it is successful this time, what changed in their analysis to drop it in the first place? Do they have extra production time available for this new model in Hambach?

Go ahead and bring out a four door model, maybe the "A" class from another factory, but please don't dilute or jeopardize the crown jewel you have in the fourtwo, Daimler, by calling it a smart. Maximize the production capabilities to only the fortwo. Please.

Ron Gaus, asmartcar.com

[kangadru]

Originally Posted by rgaus

If it is successful this time, what changed in their analysis to drop it in the first place?

In truth, the thing that changed is world perception of the car. Much of the world has trended towards bigger cars since the late 80's, and as such the forFour struggled for being available in a time when small cars simply weren't selling.

Look at the Honda Civic, do you realize that it is now the size of an 80's Accord? This isn't an exception, it's the rule, though there are small cars offered in most of the world, many don't come to the US.

Honda (Fit), Toyota (Scion Xb) and Mini (Cooper) have all established that the small cars can now succeed in the changing buying climate, but even they are larger than the forFour, the real question is could Smart get the forFour into production and approved before the real competition makes it to the market, considering Honda and Toyota are on the way, and more importantly, can they execute well enough to be a viable competitor?.

[anthony94114]

The smart forfour was not well reviewed. Whereas the fortwo has virtually NO direct competitors, the forfour was in a vast category of rather good small cars. It would have to bring something new to the table other than merely being a car to graduate from the fortwo into. Maybe it could be a discount Prius competitor (with MHD) or a fun MINI competitor.